Visionary
by daiizz
Summary: Who is the new girl at school who Alice is tortured with visions of? And which future will she choose? Instead of Bella, meet Eliza - imaginative, smart and strong willed; she's shaking the very foundations of the Cullen's lives.
1. Chapter 1

(Alice)

The vision was brief and vivid, burning behind my eyes and dragging ragged breaths from my chest. My throat constricted, tightening even after it passed and the living room swam back into focus. My hands fluttered to my neck and I choked back the sob that had automatically surfaced there.

Jasper's hands were making slow circles on my back, sending soothing waves from his touch. I cringed away from them, struggling to understand what I had just seen. I couldn't believe it. It was impossible! I searched Jasper's face wildly, looking for some hint of betrayal at what I had just seen. There was nothing, and as my eyes roamed the face that I knew and loved so well, I understood the foundation of concrete love that was unfaltering and unchanging between us. I trusted him inexplicably and he I, the vision must have been a fluke or some passing fantasy of Jasper's filtering into my mind.

I slowly began to gather my flustered thoughts and leant back into Jasper's arms, his fingers continued their slow dance across my skin. He didn't ask, he was waiting for me to explain, and the room was quiet as I wondered how I could explain my vision without upsetting Jasper. All the while the vision convulsed in my mind, fighting my attempts at pushing it away and making me feel sick.

Eventually Jasper tired of waiting and spoke my name gently. I could hear the worry in his voice and I knew that he was well aware of how much the vision had shaken me. I couldn't get out of this one.

"You don't want to tell me?" He spoke again as I didn't reply and this time his voice was a little warmer.

I looked back up into his face that gazed adoringly into my own and focused on the security I felt in being together, softened my expression and gave him a tiny sheepish smile. "It's nothing to worry about." I placed my hands in his lap, nuzzling further into his neck, adopting a position that was so familiar and comfortable that I couldn't help but feel more at ease. I would never let anything come between this, this perfection could never be topped by anyone or anything for either of us, I was certain. My hands tightened on his jeans as I was filled with a rejuvenated sense of determination to make Jasper the happiest he could ever be with me, and me alone. "It's just keeping me on my toes." I murmured into his neck as I brushed my lips against his skin.

His body relaxed and I could barely believe my luck. He'd let me off! My wonderful Jasper; always so understanding. I moved one hand up his neck, tracing one of the silver arcing scars there and gently dragged my teeth across his neck. His body tensed again but with a new feeling now swooping between us.

"Let's get out of the house for while." He drawled in his low southern accent and a tremor of excitement rippled through me. Even now I wanted him as much as I had the first time.

The next couple of months were a dream. Jasper and I were closer than we had been before as I was bent on making every day count. Although we had forever I was filled with the sudden urge to live every day as if it were our last, every last day I had I wanted to fill with Jasper and make memories.

As we were currently going through school together, our days couldn't be as activity packed as I would have liked but we made the most of our evenings and weekends. We travelled a lot, searching for new places that we hadn't yet experienced together and spent our time there in a romantic daydream. We also took on a project of building ourselves the most perfect home for our perfect life together to flourish in. And when we weren't busy I ravaged his body, savoring the taste and feel of him.

I never mentioned to Jasper the reason behind my fresh enthusiasm in our life together and he on his part never questioned me. But I had never seen him look happier; everyday there was a glow of contentedness that brightened his already dazzling face. He looked like an angel as his eyes lost some of the darkness that swirled in them usually; he relaxed, laughing more readily even in the presence of so many humans at school. He seemed to be connecting with the rest of the family easier, joking with Emmett and engaging with sullen Edward. He even seemed more patient with Rosalie.

(Jasper)

I didn't know what it was but Alice was caught up about something. She seemed more attentive than ever to me, always touching or watching me with burning pride and yet I could sense a whisper of hesitation that hadn't been there before. I probed deeper and realized that it wasn't hesitation, it was some kind of panicky nervousness. However Alice herself seemed even more exuberant than she had been before, showering me with compliments, affections and gifts.

It was like when we had first met, how I took up every part of her existence and she thought of nothing outside of me. I was flattered and also curious as to what had brought this on, but I knew better than to ask. If Alice got a notion into her head, it was best just to ride it out rather than annoy her by questioning her. Alice hated nothing more than being questioned. Of course she had spent her entire life being right, why would she ever need to be questioned?

That was fine by me, it was relaxing for me to let myself be lead – I had been left to my own devices for long enough before I met Alice and look what a miserable time that had been. Besides I had always been a military man, I was used to taking orders.

As time went on, her adoration of me began to rub off and I started to become more confident in myself. If Alice trusted that I wasn't going to slip up and loved me so completely then there was nothing to worry about at school. With this I could begin to overlook the expectation my family constantly felt waiting for me to lose control and kill someone, and I allowed myself to get closer to them all.

Life was perfect as long as I was being guided by my guardian angel – Alice.


	2. Chapter 2

_Previously: Alice has a disturbing vision but decides against telling Jasper._

(Eliza)

The first day at a new school sucked for everyone right? It wasn't just me that felt completely miserable at the concept of having to make new friends, learn new lessons, search a new school, was it? Least of all inviting was the image I had of American schools in my head put there by TV programs; there wasn't enough cheer in me to be a cheerleader, enough misery to be a Goth or enough brains for me to be a nerd either. Where was I going to fit in?

The way my mother clucked over me, going on about how exciting it all was and how much fun we were going to have here, I thought I might have been about to go insane. It almost was with relief that I jumped out of the car as soon as she stopped in the parking lot of the school.

However the sick shaky feeling in my stomach soon returned as soon as some of the students milling towards the school turned to look at me, pointing me out the their friends, some physically stopping and turning to stare.

"See you later darling." Mum called through the open passenger window and I inwardly cringed as some of the students were definitely within hearing distance. I made sure not to show my embarrassment and turned to wave off my mother and then, with my eyes turned down made my way through the drizzle towards the school doors.

It was only when I stepped through to the inside and the smell of the sweaty hall filled my nose did I realize I had no idea where to go. I froze and looked around me as if hoping for a sign to direct me. The hall wasn't that long and glass swing doors opened up onto what looked like a courtyard at the other end. Both of the walls were lined with grey lockers and the floor was linoleum, a speckled yellow.

The fluorescent lights made me feel slightly nauseous as the whole glum situation crashed over me. This wasn't the clean, buzzing atmosphere I had been expecting and was still miserable at the prospect of, this was even worse.

"Are you lost?" A rich male voice asked behind me and I spun around quickly, startled that someone had approached me. I was met with a pair of the most bewitching eyes I had seen. They were a weird yellow ochre color that shocked me, and then as I took in the rest of the person stood before me I was stunned. He was gorgeous, like supermodel gorgeous. He had to be a model, or an actor or something.

His face was completely unblemished and paper white, his features straight and strong, his jaw line square and his bone structure pronounced. His hair was a beautiful copper that caught the light, straight yet tousled as if he ran his fingers through it all the time. He was tall and towered over me, and although his tone had been warm I couldn't help but shrink a little in intimidation.

I lowered my eyes quickly to the floor and pushed a dark strand of hair back behind my ear. "Yes, actually." I didn't want someone this gorgeous to think I was gawking at them; they probably got that from everyone.

"You're new."

I nodded and shifted my bag on my shoulder. "Yeah I moved here last week." I was mumbling and I fought to get a hold of myself, yes he was gorgeous now get over it.

"You'll want to go to the registration office, it's on the other side of the school. I can take you if you want?" I looked him over again, surprised at his helpfulness. Someone that perfect and you just assume they're a dickhead. I pulled my nerves back together and arranged my features into a smile.

"That would be great thank you."

He returned my smile with a light pulling at the corner of his mouth before moving past me. I fell into step just behind him. He turned back to look at me fleetingly before saying "I'm Edward Cullen."

"I'm Eliza Blake." I kept my voice steady and confident even though I felt butterflies in my stomach from being around him.

"Where are you from?" He didn't sound overly interested and I could tell he was just being polite still I was thankful that he was taking the time to help me.

"I lived in London." I wondered if he'd come out with some cliché assumptions or questions about London. In truth I hadn't ever had much interest in the city, we had lived just outside it and I had preferred being around nature than shops. I wasn't looking forward to the disappointment as people realized I wasn't going to be able to paint any kind of picture of the famous city.

He glanced over his shoulder at me as I pictured the sprawling garden of our country house.

"I know London." A smile was playing on his lips and I wondered what had amused him. "You won't miss the city?"

I scrunched up my face as I realized I was going to start the disappointment early. "No, I didn't really like the city much." I kept the reply vague, hoping he'd drop it. He seemed the get the message and continued to lead me in silence.

It didn't take long to get to the reception office and Edward left me there with a brief smile before whisking away. I wondered if I should have been chattier, I was sure people here weren't used to my restrained nature – everyone I had met so far seemed a little uncomfortable in my presence. Conversations were often left hanging with nowhere else to go and the person would scurry off quickly, throwing confused looks over their shoulders. It was as if people had to have conversations to keep running, if they weren't gossiping or talking full heartedly they'd run out of gas and deflate.

The woman in the office gave me a map of the school and a timetable, circling on the map where each of my classes were. She then gave me a slip of paper that excused me for being late to my first class and sent me on my way.

When I managed to find the door to my first classroom I paused outside, listening to the rumble of the teacher's voice behind it. I wished there was someway to stop time and I could just stand here outside the door and prepare myself for as long as I needed, maybe even never go in. As it stood though, I couldn't control time and the longer I stood here the more likely someone was to come along and ask what I was doing.

I held my breath and caught my lip between my teeth as I swung the door open and slid inside, looking apologetically for the teacher. Of course the whole class turned as a whole to stare at me and my hands started to shake. "Sorry, I've got a slip from reception for being late – They were showing me where my classes were."

The teacher held out his hand for the slip, his expression unreadable and I crossed the room quickly to hand it over. The many pairs of eyeballs seemed to burn into me as I walked and I felt cumbersome and stupid. He quickly read the slip and I let myself breathe a little when he finally gave me a teasing smile. "Ahh, new blood!" The class chuckled and I let out a sharp humorless "Ha" before returning to biting my lip.

"Alright then class, this is Eliza Blake, please be kind. Do you want to go sit over there beside Jasper please Eliza?"

I turned to follow where his hand gestured and couldn't believe my eyes when I was met with the sight of yet another beautiful male specimen. In fact there was something similarly attractive about this boy as there was to Edward. Maybe it was the way he held himself; he looked quite stiff in his seat, his face expressionless.

I bowed my head and quickly approached, ignoring the stares that followed me right to my seat. I looked up at Jasper and the girl sat beside him as I went to sit, trying through my nerves to give them a friendly smile. I was momentarily stunned by the intense look of dislike on the girls face as she glowered at me. When I caught her eye she didn't look away, just continued to glare as I sat in my seat.

She was small, even smaller than me and looked extremely fragile. Her hair was black and cropped, I liked it, it worked well with her pixie features. Her eyes were huge which made the disgust in them even more terrifying and I embarrassedly tugged my hair from over my shoulder to hang like a black curtain between us.

The boy, Jasper, was looking at the girl instead of me as I approached, a slight frown etched into his forehead, but he still looked radiant. I noticed him and this girl were both ghastly white, and their eyes were the same unearthly yellow as Edward's and they were all heartbreakingly beautiful. They had to be related.

Neither of them said anything as I unpacked my bag and the lesson resumed. I tried to shrug off the rudeness of my two neighbors, and tried not to puzzle over why the girl had already seemed to have taken a disliking to me. In the end I focused on taking extremely detailed notes even though this was English literature, my best subject. I had already read and studied Dr. Faustus and although it wasn't my favorite play I had been more interested in it than any of my class members looked to be, the teacher was the only one talking throughout the whole analyzing of the passage they were reading.

The class finished and I couldn't believe it how dull it had been. Nobody seemed to want to be there, including the teacher. My bad mood helped me to blank out the rude boy and girl beside me as I roughly packed my things back into my bag. They left before me and I made sure to leave enough time after their departure to be able to stalk out of the classroom without bumping into them.

Whilst I hung back, trying to look busy with my bag, a girl from class sidled over to me. "Hi." She said shyly, her voice sugary sweet. I made an effort to smile back through my bad mood and greet her; this could be my first friendship attempt of the day.

"I'm Lillian." She stated and I smiled awkwardly back, unsure how to start a conversation with her. She was a pretty average looking girl with ashy blonde hair tied up in a ponytail but her face was the friendliest one I had seen that day. "Erm, where are you going next?"

"I'm going to biology next… I'm not so sure where it is though." This was a lie, I was actually pretty sure where it was, this school was small and relatively straightforward to get around I had learnt from the maps, but I wasn't going to turn down some company.

"Oh, I'm going to geography but I could take you there first!"

"If you could that would be great." I felt my sullen mood start to slip away and hopefulness take it's place as Lillian showed me to my classroom and asked me about myself and the move as we walked. She was chatty and always smiling and I found it easy enough to go along with, smiling shyly back and answering the questions as best I could.

"I could meet you here for lunch if you wanted?" Lillian chirped as we reached my biology classroom.

"Yeah, that'd be nice, thanks." That meant I didn't have to worry about who I sat with at lunch or anything like that. I couldn't handle the mortifying situation of sitting alone. She beamed and waved before rushing off in the opposite direction. I timidly turned to go into class.


	3. Chapter 3

_Previously: We met Eliza on her first day at school, which wasn't off to a great start after coming up against a hostile Alice, and statuesque Jasper._

(Jasper)

At first I couldn't place the reason behind the hostile waves rolling off Alice and I eyed her cautiously. Alice's normally cheerful face was hardened and her eyes flashed at the girl that was now making her way over to us and I realized that she was the reason for Alice's bizarre emotions. I glanced the girl over, I didn't recognize her from anywhere and she looked just like an ordinary human. True she didn't look like she had come from Forks, she was too fresh faced for that, and her style was too bohemian but still, why was she so important to Alice?

I felt the girls disquiet as she picked up on Alice's unwelcoming look and she swiftly shifted her hair so it was covering her face. Her hair wafted the scent of her neck in my general direction and I clenched my teeth against the delicious aroma of her blood. I generally avoided being in this close proximity to humans but it was bound to happen every now and then during high school, however it never seemed to get easier. Edward and Alice made it look effortless, they could interact with humans with the same ease as vampires, I was always conscious of the fact that I cared more for sinking my teeth into their neck than interacting with them.

Alice didn't relax at all throughout the class, her whole body was stiff and she was seething, throwing occasional murderous glances at the girl beside me. I tried desperately to find a reason for her reaction but I kept on coming up with blanks, and there was no way I could ask her without the girl hearing. What was her name? Eliza.

I considered her again, trying to search for what it was that was upsetting Alice so much about her. I noticed then that her nervousness at Alice's behavior had passed and she was now feeling irritated about something. Her face was pale, although not as pale as mine or Alice's, yet it was covered with light brown freckles. Her hair was long and lank, it's black folds falling to her waist and a pointed corner of her ear was poking through. The darkness of her hair was startling against her milk white skin and I noticed she wasn't wearing a scrap of makeup, which was unusual for human girls her age. There was something endearing about the short eyelashes that framed dark blue eyes and plump pale lips, a kind of vulnerability that made me thirsty. She looked a little bit like a fairy and was pretty by human standards. I wondered if Alice could possibly be jealous of this girl being sat next to me.

I probed back into Alice's emotions – no it wasn't jealousy, it was simply rage.

The class seemed to drag on forever and by the end of it I was extremely agitated. As if it wasn't enough to deal with the extreme hate Alice seemed to be trying to project onto Eliza, Eliza had also become increasingly annoyed in class, seemingly fighting an internal battle and I was caught in the middle of their heightened emotions.

I was relieved as Alice and I swept from the classroom, quicker than we normally would and I could get away from the source of discomfort. "What was that all about Alice?" I spoke low and quickly so the passing students wouldn't hear.

Alice didn't answer, and her hatred had dissolved into something more like worrying, her forehead creasing as she scowled. Alice so rarely frowned that I knew something big was happening that she wasn't telling me about. I stopped her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to face me. The sadness in her face racked me and I suppressed the urge to fall upon her and kiss her lips until they smiled again. "Who was that girl?" I asked, trying a different question this time seeing as she didn't want to answer the other one.

Her eyes seemed to be searching mine as much as I was looking for clues in hers. "Let's get out of here Jasper, let's go to our house."

Our house, I liked the sound of it but it didn't fit with the image of the house she had insisted we design and build. By we I mean, she design and build. The house was magnificent, elegant architecture and pristine angles and planes but it wasn't a home. Not to me anyway. Alice was ecstatic with it however and that made me very happy to live there with her.

"Will you tell me what's going on?"

"Yes, when we get there." She promised, squeezing my hand and leading me out of the school towards the parking lot. The classes would be starting and I knew if anyone saw us getting into our cars and leaving there would be trouble, however something as trivial as getting told off by the principle didn't bother me. Not when Alice was as upset as she obviously was, even if she wasn't letting on, I could feel the tumble of emotions stirring inside her.

Just as we were about to get in the car, Alice froze and braced herself against the door, her eyes glazing over. I knew she was having a vision and I waited patiently for her to come back around.

It didn't take long and my confusion deepened, as when she looked up her face was completely clear of any upset, instead she looked elated. Her eyes lit up as she observed me, a smile tugging at her previously downturned lips. It felt like a wind had whipped the negativity from her, her emotions were lifting rapidly – her relief was staggering.

(Edward)

The impish girl from this morning was back, her thoughts a little less depressed than before as she handed a slip to the teacher. She was chanting a mantra in her head that 'everything would be okay, Lillian was nice'. She didn't seem to be convincing herself and I could see she was still extremely on edge and uncomfortable with the whole fitting in to a new school thing.

I knew that the only spare space in class was beside myself and I adjusted myself so as to give her more room when she would come to sit down. When she looked up to where the teacher was pointing her I registered the inward groaning. I can't get rid of these supermodels today.

Her less than enthusiastic reaction to sitting beside me amused me, although it didn't seem to be because she was scared in anyway. As the recalling image of a furious Alice and indifferent Jasper echoed in her mind I was shocked. Why had Alice been looking at her like that? I had only ever seen her look that ferocious on a couple of occasions before and those were only when she was feeling threatened.

Eliza eyed me wearily and the image of my own less than welcoming expression in her thoughts quickly dragged me from my musing. I gave her a half smile "Hello again."

"Hi." Her voice was restrained. At least he's friendlier than those two.

"How's your day been so far?"

She didn't answer or look up from unpacking her bag straight away but her thoughts screamed the answer at me. How do I make 'living nightmare' sound polite? Who moves from England to America and the weather is worse? To a shitty little run down school where everyone's either rude supermodels or mindless idiots.

Her cynicism surprised me, her seriousness was very different to mindless babble of the thoughts I heard from the students around me. However when she looked up her face was friendly, her dark blue eyes just slightly tightened. "Pretty shit."

I laughed at the simplifying of the rant going on in her head, admiring her control of her emotions. She briefly wondered at how handsome I was before running her fingers through her fine dark hair and pushing it behind her pointed pixie ears, trying to control her stammering heart and thoughts.

Humans were so easily affected, to think that something as simple as a laugh would cause such a surge of blood through her tiny frame. It smelt fresh and clean, a simple but delectable aroma.

I toyed with the idea of what her blood would taste like, pictured my mouth against her long pale neck and drinking deep. I smiled to myself before pushing away the images, thoughts like that weren't effective in a vegetarian lifestyle.

"You're not impressed by the glamorous scene at Forks?" I teased and her eyes appraised me.

Sarcasm. I can work with sarcasm. She thought and I wondered what she meant. Her eyebrows raised and a genuine smile spread across her face, her plump lips parting to show tiny white teeth and a pink mouth. Her lack of makeup and tiny features made her look childlike and I found myself observing her with more interest than I had done a human since I ate them.

"Oh no, miserable weather and depressing schools have always been my scene." She sighed.

I chuckled again and she turned back to the front as the teacher called the class to attention. She tried to concentrate on the lesson but her mind kept on trailing off to a quiet hum as her eyes were drawn to the windows where the rain created sheets of water on them, blurring the trees and fields beyond them into one. I listened carefully as she remembered the view out of her old school windows; it hadn't been too different from the one she was faced with now. Her mind wandered to the people she had met that day and I noticed she lingered the longest on my face, focusing on the times I had laughed. She liked it when I laughed, and she was wondering if she'd get to see more of it.

I imagined what it would be like if I were human and we had met – there would have been no reason for us not to hang out together, she probably could have made me laugh a lot more. As it was, I wasn't human, and it wasn't advisable to get too close to humans as they tended to get fixated easily. Already Eliza's mind was lingering on me and we had only spoken twice. I knew I would have to keep our relationship extremely casual, minimal interaction. It was a shame; Eliza was an interesting little creature, her mind pleasant to listen to as it didn't babble away about useless gossip and I hadn't met someone interesting for so long.

The teacher soon passed on the practical part of the class and I had the chance to pick Eliza's brain once more. "So what is it you've disliked most about your morning so far?"

She was surprised at my question, that I was still thinking about what she had said earlier. However she did a quick recap of the day in her mind. She stopped on Alice's face and she wondered if she should ask me about her. I hoped she wouldn't, I didn't have an explanation for Alice's behavior towards her, I would have to wait for later to find that out. She decided that she didn't want to bother me with questions about my family and I was surprised at her consideration. Most of the girls I knew liked to gossip, and here I was offering it up on a plate.

"English." Her answer was short but I could hear her frustration at the running of the lesson. My curiosity piqued.

"What happened to make you hate it so much?"

"Nothing happened."

When I didn't answer her eyes flickered up to mine, where they saw something that confused her. Why is he looking at me like that? It's unnerving. Through her eyes I knew I looked intimidating as I tried to figure out her answer, I didn't like not understanding, it frustrated me. This girl had good instincts if she was getting nervous around a frustrated vampire. "Nothing happened, that was the problem." She explained further, her voice calm, not giving away her nerves.

"It was boring?" I frowned as her words only complexed me deeper.

"No. I enjoy English Lit, it's one of my favourite subjects. I just didn't like the way the teacher ran the class."

I wondered if she was purposefully not explaining herself but I could tell she wasn't, she just didn't think that the details would interest me.

"How did he run it?"

She glanced at me again, a petulant smile on her face as she considered me. I could hear that she thought I was a bit bizarre and intense and she couldn't quite calculate how I was going to act. That both frightened her and fascinated her. She blinked slowly before answering. "Like he was the only one there."

"Why do you like English Literature so much?" I couldn't stop myself asking questions, unlike everyone else in the room I didn't know how Eliza worked, what made her tick – she seemed on a different wavelength to other 18 year olds.

Her mind reeled and I saw hundreds of stories, books, plays and poems flick through her mind, each of them a positive memory. She thought of the escape she felt when she used to read and I saw the loneliness she had coped with through the different worlds in her books.

"I like reading. And I like analyzing."

"What's your favorite book?"

What is this? Question time? But I could also tell that she was enjoying the attention from me, even if she couldn't understand it. To her she seemed like a distinctly average boring person.

"That's a difficult one." I could tell it was, her mind shifted through the endless books she'd read, lingering on classics like Jane Eyre and flying to the alternative like Murakami and considering the embarrassing ones like Harry Potter. Something tells me this guy is not into Harry Potter.

"I like fantasy and I suppose I've always said Murakami was my favourite writer. Do you like reading?"

We spoke a little while about books and novels, she seemed genuinely delighted that I had read the majority of the books she mentioned, and I was surprised at her knowledge.

"So what are your other favorite subjects?"

We worked on the experiment as we spoke, she seemed a little lost with everything we were doing so I took control and filled her in on what she needed to be looking for in the magnifying glass but the information didn't seem to stick in her head. She brushed it off as unimportant and I could see that she wasn't interested in sciences at all. She had told me that she liked the more creative subjects, art, music and English literature were her favorite but she had also enjoyed studying psychology for a year back home.

"Why don't they teach psychology here?" She asked, frowning into the eyepiece of the magnifier before I could ask her anything else.

"I'm not sure, maybe they don't want people to think too hard about how we work."

She was irritated by this and I couldn't help myself but to probe deeper into her mind. She hesitated before answering.

"If we're going to get anywhere in life we need to know exactly how humans work. That way you know what really makes someone happy or sad, or how to spot if you're being manipulated."

I had never really thought of the importance of learning how humans worked, of course I had no need for knowing such things anymore. The psychology of vampires was both much more complex and much simpler than humans; we all just gave each other to freedom to do whatever we wanted, within reason.

I knew I was in dangerous territory thinking of her as more than a passing student, I wanted to know more about her but I also knew I had to be careful, it wasn't normal for humans to become obsessive like I knew I was. I didn't want to frighten her.

"Do you often find yourself being manipulated?"

I was bombarded by examples in her mind, her mother telling her they were moving to Forks because Grandma had passed away and left the house to them, telling her everything would be fun and exciting when they got there. It had been the opposite. I saw a few fleeting scenes with a boy I hadn't seen before encouraging her to engage in intercourse with him – everything about it made her feel uncomfortable but I watched her agree and go through the motions of pleasing him.

Normally I wouldn't have thought twice about these kinds of memories that I encountered constantly in the minds of the people around me, but something about watching Eliza do those things felt awkward and unnatural. From there her mind switched to something that I knew she refrained from thinking about, but even though it was so long ago, the horror of the memory still burnt in her mind.

I grimaced and leant away from her and the memory, she however sat completely still, her face expressionless. If I couldn't hear it loud and clear I would have had no idea what savage scenes were repeating behind her eyes.

She blinked slowly and I couldn't believe that she was beginning to smile shyly. "That's a difficult question…"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I spoke quickly, wanting her to turn off the images in her head that were awakening a burning rage inside me as I studied her with a new fervor. She was so frail, I could snap her like a twig between my fingers if I wanted to, and so small, she looked like a child rather than a young woman. Yet her face had some kind of captivating maturity to it, a quiet confidence in herself despite what she'd been through.

I liked the way her washed out skin clashed with her tumbling dark hair and the smattering of brown freckles on her face. Her freckles went right down to her lips which were soft and plump, the biggest thing on her face as her nose and eyes were small and almost indigenous, much like the tribes still living in La Push. I found myself startlingly against the thought of someone harming this innocent tiny creature, and I felt the urge to protect her wash over me, taking me by surprise.

"I guess the main one would mum making me move here." I knew that wasn't the main example of manipulation, but I was thankful all the same that she had decided to put away the darker memories for now, I had already experienced it through her mind.

I couldn't help but stare at her, as I waited for her to explain and I knew that my intense gaze had scattered her thoughts. I enjoyed the aroma of her blood thicken as her heart sped up in her chest but I didn't want to stop looking yet.

"Let me guess, she told you that it would be 'fun'?" I couldn't help but quote her memories, not entirely sure why I was trying to charm the girl. I knew very well that she found me attractive and I should have been fending her off, instead here I was exploring her thoughts at my will.

She laughed. "Yeah how did you guess?"

"I've heard it before." In your thoughts, I continued silently.

"Oh, when did you move here?" I wondered what it would do to her if I told her I moved here almost 100 years ago.

"A couple of years ago."

"Where from?"

"Alaska."

She smirked and looked down at her notes. I realized that we had been staring into each other's eyes for quite some time and I missed their murky blue watching me intensely. "Why to Forks?"

"My father got a job at the hospital."

The lunch bell startled me, I had completely lost track of the time and I hesitated, listening in to Eliza's lunch plans. Not that I could very much ask her to sit with me and my family, especially not with the vision of Alice's face branded in Eliza's memory. I could see that she was expecting her friend Lillian at the door, not that she seemed over enthusiastic at the idea.

She threw me the odd embarrassed look, she wanted to carry on talking with me but she was sure that this would probably be the only time she spent with me. It should be but despite this I found myself wondering how I could find a way to talk to her again, I wanted to carry on watching her face and being surprised by her thoughts. And I wanted to protect her. No, I had to leave now before I was tempted.

"See you around." And I swung from the room before she even had a chance to reply.


	4. Chapter 4

_Previously: Eliza meets a hot and cold Edward in Biology class, who seems extremely interested in her._

(Eliza)

Well that had been exhausting, I reflected as I flopped down on to my bed after putting on some music. Although it hadn't been a complete disaster I was relieved that it was over. I just had to get up and do it all again tomorrow that was all.

I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, reaching for the worn grey notebook on my bedside table. I flipped to a random page and began writing, spilling random phrases and thoughts on to the page as I usually did when my mind was restless and crowded.

Lunch had been dull and hard work as Lillian introduced me to her friends, 3 other girls and 2 guys all of whom had gawked at me like I was some kind of alien. Then began the polite chatter asking about my move, what I thought of Forks which I lied about of course, and London.

As I had expected, they were all distinctly disappointed when I couldn't give them a detailed description of the city life and didn't seem to understand when I explained that I had lived outside of the city.

I had noticed Edward Cullen sat at a table with the boy and girl from English, I knew they had been related. They all seemed to glow in the grotty cafeteria, blindingly beautiful like they were in the middle of a photo shoot. The girl looked much more cheerful and was chatting animatedly to Edward who seemed confused by the look on his face.

His eyes had flickered to mine as if I had called his name and he had instinctively reacted, I gave him a speedy smile before hurriedly looking back at the people I was sat with. I hoped he didn't think I had been watching him.

A girl called Poppy from the group at lunch had my next class with me and we went to that together which was particularly awkward as she asked me if I'd seen any boys I liked yet. My mind immediately went to Edward but I quickly pushed it away, the last thing I was looking for was any kind of crush. I had already decided that I was going to get through high school at Forks as quickly and smoothly as possible and then move far, far away, preferably back to Europe and continue my studies there. I shrugged and told her I wasn't really looking, then stiffly asked if she had someone she was interested in.

She wasted no time in diving into a detailed explanation of her relationship with the guy called Cody we had sat with at lunch where she basically wasn't sure where she stood as they had shared a few drunken kisses. I tried to respond eagerly but in the end I think she could tell I wasn't really interested and she slowly filtered off, leaving me to find my final class on my own.

My mind now drifted onto the so said Edward Cullen and I puzzled over his bizarre interview during Biology. He had seemed so intent in his questioning, like he was really interested. I wondered if he was well aware of the effect this had on girls and had polished the interested gentleman to perfection. Still I was unsure, he had proved me wrong on all of my assumptions about him being a pretty boy that was trying to pull of the bad boy look.

Without meaning to I found myself looking forward to seeing him in class the next day, although I'd have to get through another class with his gorgeous relations first.

I braced myself as I entered the foreboding classroom, nervous that the shorthaired girl would be more vocal today. I also wasn't looking forward to yet another dull lesson. It wasn't off to a great start when I saw that the girl had swapped places with Jasper so that I was now sitting right beside her.

They both looked up when I entered, the guy with perfect honey colored curls wearing an amused expression on his angular face. The girl's face was impassive… for now. I swallowed my nerves and tried to walk confidently over, I wasn't going to let them intimidate me. Still I avoided their eyes as I approached and was extremely surprised when a high tinkling voice came out of the girl. "Hello!" Her voice sounded friendly!

I was careful not to show my shock and I sat down carefully, slowly raising my eyes to her face. She was smiling, although I couldn't quite work out the look in her eyes. "Hi." I tentatively returned her smile before turning to unpack my bag, my mind reeling.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I was in an awful mood. Can you forgive me?" Her voice sang, and I was left staring bewildered at her. She was smiling confidently into my face like she already knew that I would let it slide, her hands clasped under chin, eyes glowing with that off putting warm butterscotch. She looked like an actress trying and not completely achieving innocent.

Goosebumps rose on my skin and I felt like shivering when I realized that I didn't trust this girl one little bit, everything about her screamed crazy – I would know, I'd met my fair share of crazy people. Still, who was I to turn down her apology?

"Oh, that's fine. Don't worry about it." I tried to smile back but my lips quivered and I gave up quickly, instead my eyes flicking to Jasper just beside her who although he wasn't looking I could tell was listening hard.

"I'm Alice, I didn't catch your name yesterday." She held out a tiny boney hand, her eyes burning with some intensity that I couldn't understand as she brought my attention back to her.

"I'm Eliza." I bit back the urge to slap her hand away and instead rested my longer fingered one in hers. Her grip was surprisingly firm and her skin was freezing as she shook my hand once and then dropped it like it was on fire. She continued to smile at me and I tried to relax, shooting her a hesitant one back.

"That's a lovely name. What part of England are you from Eliza?" My name sounded sharp in her high voice.

"I moved from London. My grandma left us her house." I explained, shifting in my seat uncomfortably, not sure where to look as my eyes bounced between her and Jasper and the front of the class. Jasper had moved finally so his body was facing us and I wondered why he hadn't introduced himself – maybe he was less willing to hide the fact that he disliked me like Alice seemed to be doing. I wondered again what the reason was behind their coldness to me previously and the sudden change today.

"I love London!" Alice squealed, positively beaming at me. "I love shopping there, the fashion is so contemporary."

My eyes widened, I had no idea what to say to that. I wasn't overly interested in fashion, instead adopting a uniform of mismatched clothes I found in local charity shops. "Erm, yeah I guess. I didn't really shop in London."

The smile finally faded off Alice's face as she looked me up and down as if for the first time. She could at least try and be a little more subtle about it. I was suddenly very conscious of my oversized midnight blue shirt that had long flowing sleeves and a square neck with gold trimming with my faded black jeans. I copied Alice's actions, taking in her obviously extremely expensive, perfect fit, silk cream shirt with immaculate black trousers that fit like a second skin.

Her eyes moved to my bag that was still sat on the table, her nose wrinkling in distaste. I liked my bag! It was a large fabric bag with clashing swirls of pinks and blues and jeweled with small silver and gold beads. I slowly and purposefully reached over and put it on the floor out of sight.

To my surprise Jasper started laughing, a barking guffaw that didn't seem to fit with his perfect external appearance. "Alice doesn't understand that not everyone lives to shop." His voice was deep and growling and I found myself feeling flustered at the sound of it.

I nervously joined his laughter, my eyes exploring him questioningly. His unexpected outburst seemed to have broken through his frozen exterior and his lips stretched into a wide grin that exposed perfect white teeth. I watched his hand slide into Alice's lap where he took one of her hands into his; so they were together.

Alice shook herself out of her abstraction and her tinkling laugh joined ours.

At that point the teacher entered the class and I was relieved to turn to face the front and away from the burning eyes of Alice.

The class continued from where we had left the play yesterday in exactly the same fashion. I forgot about the presence of the strange girl next to me as I became steadily more frustrated like the day before, throwing accusing glances around the room at my fellow zombie students. Was that guy falling asleep?

After 15 minutes of the teacher's monotone voice and skirting over important lines, I'd had enough and raised my hand determinedly. He seemed astonished and eyed me beadily as if he'd never seen a student before. "Yes Eliza?"

I hesitated briefly before speaking out.

My voice rang through the room unnaturally. Almost everyone in the class had turned to stare at me as I spoke but I refused to look at anyone other than the teacher. His eyebrows raised in disbelief before plummeting into a frown. He dismissed my contrasting opinion of the text he was reading and made to continue back to his lesson, but his answer enraged me. I knew he was wrong, we had discussed this very thing in my classes in England.

I couldn't help myself; I interrupted him again. I could hear tittering through the class but I didn't care – I couldn't sit in complete silence through another lesson again.

A smile was growing on the teacher's face and I was relieved that he wasn't annoyed by my argument; instead he seemed to be welcoming my contribution. "You've studied this text before Miss Blake haven't you?"

I bit my lip. "Yes." I admitted.

The room was filled with buzzing, although I suspected it was just the students discussing me rather than the text. However I was pleasantly surprised when a boy near the front of the class also raised his hand and began quoting another part of the play that supported what I was saying.

As the attention was drawn from me I let out a low long breath, leaning back into my seat.

I let myself glance over at Alice and Jasper. Alice's eyes were burning in a similar way to yesterday whilst Jasper looked incredulous as he met my eyes. He tilted his head infinitesimally and gave me a crooked smile in praise of what I had done and I quickly lowered my eyes to my hands that were clenched together on my desk, my heart stammering a little.

The rest of the lesson passed quickly and almost enthusiastically, and I was in a much better mood as I packed my stuff away.

"So Eliza, you've met Edward haven't you?" Alice's voice was back, tarnishing my good mood. However, my ears pricked at Edward's name and I couldn't help the spike of curiosity as I thought of the moody bronze haired boy that had interviewed me yesterday.

"Yeah, we have Biology together."

"Edward can be a little standoffish but he's actually a really nice person." She smiled up at me; she was a couple of inches smaller than me. I thought back to Edward and cynically compared him to Alice, she had been much more standoffish than him.

"Yeah he seems like a nice guy. Are you related?" I asked, eyeing their similar pale skin and bizarre eye color.

Alice's smile stretched at my words and I wondered what she was so excited about, her eyes flashed with that weird emotion that I couldn't put my finger on. "Edward is my brother, Carlisle adopted us all." She gestured back towards Jasper and I couldn't help the surprise that must have shown on my face. 3 adopted kids? And she was dating her adopted brother? It sounded strange even though there couldn't be any blood relation there. Still it was none of my business.

"Cool. Carlisle must be a good guy." I stood awkwardly behind my seat, wondering if I could walk to my next class without looking rude. I could see Lillian lingering by her seat as well and I wondered why she hadn't come over yet. She seemed to be waiting for me to finish talking to Alice. I was also aware of an excited fluttering in my stomach in anticipation of seeing Edward in my next class, which I tried to ignore.

Jasper was looming behind Alice, his eyes roaming me disturbingly. Why was he so silent? "Yeah he is… do you have any brothers or sisters?" To my alarm Alice slipped a thin cold arm through mine and began steering me out of the classroom. I turned to look for Lillian who was watching with a frown. I waved my hand apologetically.

"I'll see you at lunch?" I called and she nodded, trying but failing to smile back. I wondered what was up with her, she could have come over and saved me from Alice.

I turned my attention back to Alice who had a vice grip on my arm. She seemed unperturbed by Lillian and had that smile plastered back onto her face again. Jasper was behind us and I felt like I was being escorted to my next class. "I have a brother but he stayed in England." I answered finally when I knew I wasn't going to be released until I was safely at the door of my biology class.

"What's his name?" Alice chirped, either blissfully unaware of my discomfort or completely ignoring it.

"Chris." I couldn't help but feel sad at the mention of him; I missed my big brother desperately. He had been my tonic to mum's manic behavior.

"So he's older than you?"

"Yeah he's 23."

Alice smiled and nodded like a mechanical toy and I noticed we were getting a lot of weird looks from the people we passed in the hall.

"What does he do?"

"He's working in a recording studio at the minute." We were approaching my class and I couldn't wait to shake off Alice, the weight of her arm against mine was surprisingly heavy.

"Oh so he's into music?" She sounded delighted and I ran a hand through my hair as I pictured my brother playing guitar and singing, we had often done that together. He was the one who had taught me to play.

"Yeah, we're both quite similar in our taste in music."

We had reached the door but Alice still didn't release me, she wanted to finish our conversation first and she turned her steely eyes on me.

"That's nice, Edward loves music too. What kind of music do you like?" Her tone didn't match her eyes, but she sounded genuinely interested. Her reference to Edward puzzled me, was there something about these Cullen's and grilling me? I wondered why Alice had suddenly adopted me, the exact opposite of her behavior yesterday.

I opened my mouth to answer when something brushed my free arm. I turned to look and my breath caught in my throat when I saw Edward towering over me, his hand on my arm. "I think that's enough questions for now Alice, Eliza has a class to attend."

He didn't look at me but his face was relaxed, a smile playing on his lips. He looked just as, if not more perfect than I remembered him.

To my intense relief Alice released my arm and took a step backwards, her lips pouty. Then she flipped and was smiling brightly at me again, "Okay then, see you at lunch!" And with that she turned and practically skipped down the hall, one hand slipped through Jaspers.


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously: Alice telepathically tells Edward about her conflicting visions concerning Eliza's future with both him AND Jasper. After the vision of Eliza and Edward together, Alice is noticeably warmer towards Eliza, and Edward is more interested in her than he likes to let on._

(Edward)

I had been listening for her thoughts all morning, how could I not after the vision Alice had told me about yesterday?

In the vision, I had been completely still, my eyes closed and jaw clenched as Eliza's slender hand traced the bones of my face. She had been gazing at me like I was the most incredible specimen she had ever seen and then she had jerked forward so quickly, probably so she couldn't convince herself not to, and placed her warm lips against my frozen ones.

I could scarcely believe the adoration that had animated her features in the vision and now confliction panged inside me like it had when I had first seen the vision in Alice's mind. First of all was a rush of hope immediately followed by a foreboding sense of doom. There was no way I could control myself if a human got so close, made herself so vulnerable. The vision had ended there; there was no way of knowing how I would react – what if I ended her life there and then?

It was the thoughts that crossed Alice's mind before she could reel them in as I explained this that decided it. Another memory of a vision flashed, one that had happened quite a while ago but she had somehow managed to hide from me.

The new vision was of Eliza again, but she was almost unrecognizable. Her eyes were wild, her cheeks flushed and her breathing erratic. Her hands were wrapped in the honey blonde curls of the man who crushed her against him, his face buried in her neck. Her eyes rolled back as her lips parted and she moaned his name. "Jasper…"

The vision snapped closed as Alice hurriedly compartmentalized her thoughts but she could see in my face it was too late. Her eyes widened. Don't tell Jasper. The thought was singular and desperate and I struggled to drag my eyes from hers, attempting to brush off the betrayal and blistering fury that had ripped through me as what I was seeing dawned on me.

"What's wrong Edward?" Jasper had asked and it took all my efforts not to launch myself at him. Of course he could feel all the emotions that pulsed through me then but he had no idea what they meant.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself this hadn't happened, that Jasper hadn't even looked twice at Eliza – he had no idea that could potentially be part of his future. No matter, I wouldn't let it. If it was between me or Jasper, Eliza was obviously going to be much safer with me. At least our vision hadn't shown me chowing down on her – no matter how much she seemed to enjoy it.

Alice begged with me silently, telling me she was doing her best to keep Jasper away from Eliza. That they had no reason to communicate whilst she was there, that as long as I continued as I was with Eliza there was no way Jasper would do such a thing. I knew she was right.

I turned slowly back to Jasper, letting go of my fury. "I'm just worried about how things are going to turn out." I replied finally, not exactly lying. I could tell he wasn't convinced, he was well aware that we were hiding something from him and he didn't like it. But as he stared at Alice he let his suspicions slip away, his faith in Alice overcoming all. He knew she'd tell him if he needed to know.

And now here I was, stalking Eliza's mind, listening to her every thought and movement.

I heard her determination to not let Alice frighten her, I heard her decision that Alice was a crazy person, which amused me greatly, but I wanted to know more about the other crazy people she compared her to. I wanted to know why she felt so passionately about Dr Faustus and where the knowledge she had revealed during the class had come from. I wanted to know what else she knew about. And I was fascinated by the way she thought one thing and did another, constantly checking herself.

(Eliza)

My annoyance at Alice dissipated as Edward guided me through the class, his hand on my arm felt much more pleasant than Alice's had been. In fact it was all I could think about. I forgot where I was as he led me through the classroom over to our places and it was only when he removed his hand did I come back to reality.

I quickly rearranged my face, which seemed to have gone slightly slack and gathered my thoughts. How old was I again? Why was I was getting all excited about a hand on my arm?

"Sorry about Alice, she's a little over the top." He was smirking at me, his eyes searching mine as we sat down. It was muddling my thoughts again. I managed to choke out a laugh that sounded completely forced and then quickly ducked into my bag to get my things and sort myself out again. I needed to get a grip.

He was still watching me intensely as I straightened from moving my bag to the floor and I carefully met his eyes, making sure not to freak out again. There was something different about him today. I thought maybe it was his eyes, like there was a hint of some desperation there that hadn't been there yesterday.

As soon as I thought this he dropped my gaze and looked down at the desk. I wondered what to say, I was no good at starting conversations, it had been him doing all the work yesterday. "She was just asking me about my brother." I settled with lamely. But it seemed to have done the trick, his eyes raised to mine, hooded beneath his eyelashes this time. Then I realized what it was – his eyes were darker than yesterday. I didn't mention it though, that would be weird.

"What's he like?"

The question was so broad that I had to think about how to answer. I thought of us laughing so hard our sides hurt at stupid little jokes and quips we shared about other people, I thought again of us sitting opposite each other with guitars, him coming up with riffs and teaching me them and me coming up with the melody to sing. I saw him holding me as I cried out of frustration with mum or boys and him telling me to toughen up and deal with it but never loosening his grip on me. "Chris is great. We're really alike."

Edward had sat straighter in his seat, his eyes never leaving me as I had mused. It was as if he had been trying to get the answer out of me with his eyes. They were burning so bright that I couldn't look away.

"In what way?"

At that point the teacher entered the room and called the class to attention. I shot Edward a small smile, hoping he could tell it meant I wanted to carry on talking about it later. He seemed to understand and turned to the front, his face serious as always.

Halfway through the class we were left to do an experiment again and Edward surprised me by diving straight back into the conversation where we left it. As I got into the rhythm of answering his questions that were more probing and personal than yesterday I found myself becoming more comfortable around him. His intense stares didn't startle me as much as I realized that was just how he looked and I actually began to enjoy telling him all about my relationship with Chris. As I touched on how he would support me whenever mum turned on me he sharply changed the direction of his questions onto my mother.

Before he could go any further I held up my hands and laughed, he reminded me of a curious child. "Hold on, I want to ask you some things too."

I noticed him tense and move slightly away from me as I said that but he couldn't expect me to tell him my life story without getting anything in response. Anyway, I wasn't too sure about talking about my unpredictable mother with him just yet – I didn't know him.

"What do you want to know?" his voice became more sullen and I was confused in the change in him. But still I pressed on.

"What's Alice like?"

He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly and I became embarrassed again. "You were asking me all about Chris so…"

"Alice is… complicated."

I considered dropping it, it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. But I couldn't justify telling him all about myself if he didn't give me something in response. I had to find a way to get him to open up, like he'd managed to do with me a few minutes ago.

"Complicated how?"

He opened his mouth to answer and the shrill ringing of the school bell came out instead, making me jump. He smirked at my reaction and I threw him a mockingly dirty look, he'd managed to get out of answering.

However, instead of packing up and leaving the room at the speed of light, Edward lingered around me hesitantly as I looked to the door to see if Lilian was there. I couldn't see her but she was probably just outside. I turned to him awkwardly, wondering what to do from here. Was he going to ask me to sit with him at lunch or something?

He met my hesitant gaze with a half smile and muttered. "Let's go."

Go where? But I turned on my heel and walked consciously from the room, suddenly feeling a little clumsy on my feet. If Edward wanted to spend lunch that must mean that he must consider me a little more than Biology time entertainment. Still, I didn't think Lilian would be too impressed if I ditched on the second day for someone better looking and male.

But Lilian wasn't outside; she wasn't anywhere.

I glanced up at Edward nervously, he was watching me of course, he didn't seem to take his eyes off me. And it wasn't like when I caught him staring he got embarrassed and pretended not to, he just continued to hold my gaze, waiting for my next move like I was some kind of mouse he was waiting to catch. I shivered as I drew the comparison between his and a predators eyes.

"What are your plans for lunch?" he was smirking as if he'd heard what I was thinking. I was glad that he hadn't.

"Erm, I'm not sure whether Lilian is meeting me or not." I ran my fingers through my hair anxiously, standing awkwardly beside the biology door, wondering whether I should wait for her to turn up.

"Why don't you sit with me today? You can carry on questioning me."

He had that same look in his eyes as Alice, like he knew I wasn't going to refuse. For some reason that irked me, and I didn't want to ditch Lillian so quickly.

As I hesitated, his eyes clouded over and a frown creased between his eyebrows. "Erm, unless you'd rather find your friend that is." He added.

"Yeah I think I'd best do that." I answered apologetically and we set off towards the cafeteria, his face impassive and hard.

I tried to start conversation again but it was like his mood had switched. His face was hard and impassive and he barely answered me.

If he was trying to make me feel bad for not sitting with him at lunch then he had another think coming, I didn't know whether these tricks worked that quickly on other girls but I wasn't going to be eating out of his hands that quickly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head sharply, his mouth a tight line. "Nothing. I've got to go." And then he stalked away from me in the opposite direction to the cafeteria. I stopped in my tracks and watched him leave open mouthed. Wow. That was rude.

I shook myself and paced towards the cafeteria, completely exasperated at Edward's sudden switch in mood. His bad boy image had definitely gone to his head if he thought I was going to be more interested in him after his sulking.

I scanned the cafeteria for Lilian and in the process saw Alice waving manically towards me. In no mood to deal with her I sent her a small tight lipped smile and wave back and advanced towards the table where Lilian sat gossiping with Poppy. As I approached, I saw blonde haired Cody murmur something to her and she straightened quickly, turning in my direction.

It looked much too much like they had just been discussing me, but I had no choice but advance – who else was there?

I pasted a smile on my face and sat down in one of the spare seats beside them. "Hi!" My voice was too enthusiastic but Lilian's face didn't change, she was avoiding my eyes.

I waited for the conversations to pick back up but they didn't. They were all exchanging glances and I felt mortified, I had never experienced such playground politics outside of primary school. After a couple of long torturous minutes, I'd had enough – it looked like I would have to find somewhere else to spend my lunch. "Ookay." I sighed and stood up sharply.

Their eyes all turned to me, everyone besides Poppy and Lilian having the decency to look guilty, they actually had little smirks on their lips. They had been waiting for me to react – well I wasn't going to give them what they wanted. Instead I turned on my heel and walked calmly from the room, but not before Poppy called "Have fun with Alice!"

"Have fun being a bitch." I murmured to myself, feeling my throat constrict with humiliation. Day 2 and I had already made enemies, more than I had achieved in 18 years back home. I didn't understand what had just happened, Lilian had seemed so sweet yesterday! Was this how things worked here? Surely everybody couldn't be as childish and self absorbed as that. I just wanted to go home but I knew that wasn't an option, I wanted to cry but that also wasn't an option for me. So what could I do?

My eyes flickered to the glass doors on the other side of cafeteria – it was pouring rain so a walk was out of the question. For now I just had to get somewhere private so I could figure this out without people gawking at me and give myself some time to freak out.

I beelined for the girls toilets, locked myself in a cubicle and proceeded to scream silently. My hands went from pulling at my hair to aiming aggressive middle fingers in the general direction of the cafeteria. I had never known anyone to be so malicious! The scene replayed over and over in my head and it felt like the whole school would be laughing at me by now. Still, I couldn't stay hidden in here forever. It was like every cliché American chick flick I had seen and I refused to be the weak main character. I didn't mind my own company, I wasn't going to be alone forever, I was bound to make friends with someone soon. Not locked in the toilet though.

I emerged with a vague idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do but that plan was immediately side railed when I saw Edward leant against the wall beside the toilet door. His face was grave as ever, but it lightened a little when he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" I bit my lip when I realized how accusing my voice had sounded. I was just surprised.

"Waiting for you." He said as if it was obvious.

"Oh." I stood rooted to the spot, staring at his feet. I was still annoyed at him no matter how relieved I was for his rescue. "How did you know where I was?"

"I saw you go in of course." I could hear the smile on his lips and I allowed myself a little peek. I wasn't prepared for the warmth in his expression, concern shone in his eyes and every little bad boy pretense was dropped. For now. I was left staring.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah why?" My reply was too quick and I pulled my hair to the front of my shoulders to act as some sort of defense to his gaze, dropping my eyes back to his shoes. Very nice Italian leather by the looks of them – he seemed to share Alice's impeccable taste in clothes. I considered my scruffy old trainers and almost laughed at the difference between us. Why was he so bothered about me?

"You look upset."

I shrugged non committedly but was actually horrified to find my eyes tingle with tears budding behind them, why was I crying now?! It was always that way, I was strong until someone else hinted that I wasn't as strong as I thought. "I'm fine." But my voice was thick and gave me away.

He placed a single cold finger beneath my chin and attempted to lift my face to his, but terrified of him seeing me cry I wrenched away from him. "Eliza?"

"Thanks for worrying but I'm honestly fine." I told the floor, knowing that was just as likely to believe me as I desperately tried to swallow my tears. "Anyway, I was just going somewhere so…"

"Where are you going?" Damn. He called me out. My mind whirred as I tried to think up a destination out of thin air. Home? I wish.

"I was going to find the music room." The answer popped out of my mouth without me even thinking about it, and yet I knew that was where I wanted to go.

"I'll come with you."

Edward was so self assured again, as if he knew I wouldn't refuse. I was miffed, my annoyance at both Lilian and his sudden departure before lunch bubbling into one. They were both so arrogant thinking they could pick me up and drop me when they pleased. My temper wasn't quick to flare but once it did I found it difficult to reign in, however I wasn't in any kind of position where I could go raging without consequences.

Instead I carefully kept my face expressionless and facing the ground as I nodded. However, Edward took a hasty step back and when I looked back up at him I saw that his eyes were wide and surprised, what was wrong with him? What had I said?

"I mean – I'll show you where it is." His voice was faltering and for the first time since I met him he looked caught off guard. He spun away from me and paced down the hall briskly.

I frowned at his back as I followed, my anger dissipating into confusion, it was as if I had spoken my thoughts out loud. He didn't look back to talk to me or even to check if I was following him right up until we reach a brown door. Then he turned back to me, his eyes carefully avoiding my questioning ones. "This is it." His voice was flat, his face almost like a mask completely devoid of any of the previous emotions.

This boy was confusing, I didn't know where I stood with him at all. Sometimes, like in biology, he seemed so attentive and yet he flipped moods so quickly and unpredictably that I couldn't possibly judge how he really felt about anything. "Thanks." I said slowly, and the words hung in the air curiously, waiting for him to explain.

Instead he sent a miniscule hard smile in my general direction and left as quickly as he had appeared. For the second time in less than an hour I was left watching him retreat open mouthed and bewildered.

Once again I forced myself to shake it off, and I pushed open the door into the room, not noticing the muffled sound of the guitar playing from the outside.

The sound broke off sharply as soon as I entered and I stammered an apology at the dark haired boy sat on an amp and holding a semi acoustic in the small dark room. I started to leave when the guy called out. "Hey it's fine, come in!"

I looked back at him. He was tall and lanky, his hair dark and tightly curled around a cute pug like face. His nose was upturned like a ski slope and his full lips were stretched into an easy wide smile. It was a friendly face and I immediately relaxed, returning his smile. "Thanks." I murmured and moved back into the room, closing the door behind me.

"Hey you're the new girl!" He exclaimed.

"Eliza." I corrected, moving vaguely towards the guitars, unsure now that I wasn't alone as to what to do.

"I'm Damien." His eyes followed me, the smile never leaving his face.

"What were you playing?" I motioned towards his guitar.

"Oh, just something I came up with. You play?"

"A little." I chose a thin necked acoustic and picked it up gingerly, wondering what to do next. There was a small awkward silence as I sat on one of the chairs scattered through the room and placed the guitar on my lap.

"Cool, like covers or your own stuff?"

I shrugged. "A bit of both. Mainly covers." His grin was back.

"What songs do you know?"

I laughed and my mind went blank as it always did when someone asked me to play to them. "Erm, like Vashti Bunyan, Grizzly Bear… stuff like that."

His eyes were appraising as he raised his guitar. "Do you sing?"

I considered for a second, my voice was my main instrument but singing in front of Damien who I had only met two minutes ago was nerve wracking. "Only if you'll join in."

He chuckled and his fingers trailed off, "You don't want to hear that, trust me."

I was sincerely hoping that he would share similar tastes in music to me. I liked Damien already, he had a relaxing demeanor unlike anybody else I had met yet and the fact that he was musical drew me towards him.


	6. Chapter 6

_Previously: Somehow Edward's arrogance has upset Eliza, so she turns to a new friend - Damien._

(Jasper)

Edward hadn't joined us for lunch and Eliza had politely ignored Alice's waving her over so the hour was passing pleasantly as Alice chattered away about how excited she was for Edward and Eliza's relationship to blossom.

I agreed, it was an extremely interesting turn of events for Edward who was usually so cold and distant from everything to become even slightly stirred. Although he dismissed Alice's insistence that it was going to happen, I could feel his trepidation when he saw her, his concern and curiosity in her. It was all very new to him, I had never experienced those feelings coming from Edward who was always so stubborn in his righteousness.

And the girl seemed like a good match, apart from the part that she was potential food. She was obviously intelligent and passionate and she seemed older than her years – the more the better for the hundred year old 17 year old Vampire.

Alice was in mid sentence when she broke off suddenly, her eyes widening and taking on that surreal glow that accompanied the visions. Then her eyes narrowed and a low hiss escaped between her clenched teeth, her emotions suddenly blisteringly hateful. I automatically reached for her little arm, placing my fingers there and sending calming waves through her.

"Another one?!" She spat incredulously to herself.

"Alice?"

"Apparently Edward isn't good enough for Eliza." She ground her teeth and I was surprised by her extreme reaction. Whilst I knew she had been extremely determined when it came to Edward and Eliza, it would surely be easier for all of us for such a relationship to not go ahead. I assumed that the vision had shown Eliza taking a more natural route for her future love life and all I could see was that this was a good thing.

Instead of voicing these opinions, which were sure to anger Alice even more, I kept them quiet and asked, "Who's the guy?"

"Some ugly human!" She wrinkled her nose and I tasted her outrage.

"Things can always change." I comforted her but instead of comfort my words seemed to spike worry in her. "What's wrong?"

She gave me a searching look – something she had been doing a lot lately. "I'm just upset for Edward." But her words didn't fit with the desperateness of her feelings.

"He'll be fine, they've only known each other for two days."

My words didn't seem to be helping, in fact her emotions were spiraling quickly downward and I couldn't understand why. Why had she been relying so much on Edward and Eliza's getting together? "Alice why are you so disappointed?"

"I just told you why Jasper!" she snapped and I was even more taken aback, she never got irritable with me. I could see she immediately regretted it as the guilt clouded her anger and I arranged my features back into a warm expression to show there were no hard feelings. "I'm sorry." She murmured, placing a hand on my cheek which I leant into, smiling at her strained face.

"No worries darlin'."

"I just really wanted it to happen."

(Alice)

That dirty little scarlet. The girls of Forks were going to have to start locking up their men to keep them out of her filthy fingers. She looked so innocent and yet here she was flitting from guy to guy in her head – only her decisions were the ones that were affected my visions.

And who the hell turns down a vampire for heavens sake?! We were designed to be irresistible to humans yet she seemed to be the one doing all the charming around here! I had been counting on Edward to keep her occupied and away from Jasper, how the hell was I supposed to be able to entrust this responsibility on a puny human? Like Jasper had said, things could always change and this was extremely likely if she placed her feelings in a moronic teenage boy. And if that was the case things could always change back to my first prediction, the one too painful to picture.

(Edward)

Today was not going to plan. My ability to read minds was almost useless against Eliza as her thoughts took me by surprise as much as her actions – she was unlike anybody I had encountered before. Twice today I had tried to give her exactly what her mind was telling me she wanted and twice today I had gone about it the wrong way and gotten the exact opposite results. I knew she liked being around me, that I was the best company she had had in a while, that she wanted to know more about me almost as much as I wanted to know about her; and yet when I had given her a way to spend more time together she had turned me down – both times!

I wasn't used to being refused and I certainly wasn't used to making mistakes when it came to humans, when this had happened it had disorientated me and I had backed right off only to find this irritated her even more. I was at a loss.

And now it seemed I had let her slip through my fingers. I bristled as I listened to her thoughts from within the music room. I heard as she warmed to this Damien more and more, how comfortable she felt around him in comparison to me, how she found a bizarre beauty in his features. I listened as they laughed, her troubles with Lilian now all but forgotten, something I hadn't been able to do.

Even more frustrating was how unnerved I was by the sudden disappearance of our future together, replaced with an all too vivid vision of her and Damien's intimate confessions to each other. I should be relieved, this was how it should be, and yet I realized too late how much I had enjoyed the prospect of being able to spend as much time as I wanted with Eliza, to explore her mind as she fell in love with me and me no doubt with her.

I had seen Alice's vision as soon as it appeared in Alice's mind despite the fact that I had been paying no attention to her thoughts – it was like I was hardwired to her visions as long as I was within hearing distance. And now I had to deal with her raging against Eliza which I didn't enjoy. I was with Jasper on this one, this was how things were meant to be. But of course Alice wasn't interested in what was best for others, only what worked best for her – and this new turn of events wasn't what she had wanted to happen at all.


	7. Chapter 7

_Previously: Alice has another vision, this time Eliza is with a mere human! Edward battles with his emotions whilst Jasper doesn't understand what everyone's so upset about._

(Eliza)

So it seemed that Alice was back to giving me the cold shoulder the next day. These Cullen's were completely fucked up, they were making my head spin. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of anything I could have done to deserve this behavior.

Just as I had started to become more hopeful about coming to school, it seemed I had made even more enemies. I mulled over Alice's sulking, my eyes occasionally glancing over at Lilian at the front of the class wondering if she was still as bitter today. Not that it mattered that much, I wasn't planning on going near her again.

Yesterday's afternoon had made up for it's dismal beginning as I realized I was in the majority of the rest of my lessons with Damien and we continued the easy chatting that we had started in the music room at lunch. To my extreme pleasure we had discovered we had very similar music tastes and he even knew of a couple of my more obscure artists. I had met his two best friends Liam and Nick, both of whom had seemed friendly and if not overly enthusiastic to welcome me to the group. Damien had joked about it, keeping them at bay as they had drilled me about England and how I was finding the move.

I was looking forward to seeing him again, even more so now Alice was back to hating on me again. Damien had made me feel so much better about the Lilian situation yesterday; I was hoping he could do the same again today. But first I had to get through a lesson with Edward.

I bit my lip, wondering what state he would be in today – if Alice was anything to go by it wasn't looking good.

Alice and Jasper left the room without speaking to me today and I didn't miss Lilian's snide smirk as she watched them go. I wondered how many more miserable mornings I could put up with at Forks, wishing for the billionth time that I was back home as I walked slowly to Biology.

As always, Edward's gorgeous appearance was daunting as I stepped into the room. His eyes were focused on his hands intently as he sat perfectly still and straight. As I approached he looked up slowly, as if he'd known I was there.

"Hi." I squeaked, eyeing him cautiously, looking for any sign of the bad mood Alice was sporting today. He gave me a crooked smile that didn't meet his eyes but at least it was a sign of recognition.

"Hello." His voice was like silk, and it startled me like it always did as if I had forgotten his perfection over night.

"How are you today?" I asked breezily as if it didn't really concern me, but I really wanted to know if he was over his strange hissy fits from yesterday.

His face blanched before being covered by the same careful half smile again. "Never better. And yourself?"

"Wonderful." I layered on the sarcasm, flashing him a hopeful smile – so far so good. But instead of questioning me further like he normally would have he just nodded slightly and went back to watching his hands.

And that was it, he gave no other sign of wanting to talk to me. We sat in silence until the lesson began and my mind raced around what I should do – should I do anything at all? If Edward didn't want to talk to me then that was his choice, I didn't want to impose myself upon him. Maybe I wasn't easy enough for him.

I found myself watching the clock, waiting for lunch to roll in so I could go and find Damien – at least I could be certain he wouldn't be ignoring me today.

The class was just a lecture today so there was luckily no experimentation time where I would have to try and create awkward conversations with Edward. The bell rang and just like my first day Edward was out of the room before most people had finished packing away. I watched him go, grinding my teeth together, suddenly seething. What had I done to deserve this treatment off everyone?

Once again I was battling with tears as I stalked towards the music room, hating on everything. I hated this place with it's miserable weather, lifeless town, idiotic students and arrogant Cullen's. I hated my mother for bringing me here – so what if we had a nicer house? Didn't she care about what she was leaving behind?

I tried to shove these thoughts off, it would do me no good to linger on these things – unless I really did want to have a breakdown in front of everyone. Instead I decided that I would no longer have anything to do with Edward or Alice, just like I would have nothing to do with Lilian either. I would focus on new friends.

I peered through the glass on the music room door and was relieved to see Damien perched on his amp, guitar in hand just like we had arranged. He beamed at me when I entered, truly happy to see me and I couldn't help the smile that stretched across my sullen face in return.

(Jasper)

School was becoming a sad affair. Both Alice and Edward were sulking about how things had turned out with Eliza, Alice increasingly irritated with Edward's lack of action and Edward's morbid determination not to do anything.

I personally didn't see what the problem was. If Edward liked the girl he should just take her, it was easily done especially with his ability to see everything she was thinking. There was very little chance of things ending badly what with Edward's restraint and there was no need for him to tell her the truth about us.

"Don't be ridiculous Jasper." Edward hissed out of the corner of his mouth and I shrugged.

"It's just what I'd do."

My words irritated him more than I had expected and he half rose out of his seat. "You don't need to do anything." He spat.

"What?" Alice asked, her eyes dancing between us suspiciously.

"I just think Edward should go for it with Eliza." I murmured, almost the exact copy of the words she had said to me earlier. So I was extremely surprised at the hurt that rippled through her.

"You would do that Jasper?" Her voice was higher and wounded. That was what she had picked up from that?!

"What? I was just saying that's what I would do if I were Edward."

"You're not Edward." She said forcefully and I began to lose my temper.

"Yes I know that –"

"So there's no point in even thinking about it." She interrupted, her eyes flashing dangerously at me as her annoyance spiked, mine joining hers. This was the second time in two days Alice had been sharp with me, after so many years of complete bliss. What was going on, she had been on edge for the past few months and it had done nothing but peaked since Eliza had arrived. What was her deal with the human girl? Why wasn't she telling me the full story?

Edward gave a long low sigh. "Alice you're being unreasonable." I was surprised by his sudden support and scowled at him.

"Stay out of it Edward!" Alice snapped and Edward clamped his mouth together, his expression dark and musing. I could feel that he was torn about something and I wondered what it was that he and Alice knew that I didn't.

The table fell silent and the tension became unbearable. I stood up quickly and began moving away from them. "Where are you going?" Alice's voice was indignant, as if I had no right to walk away from her. This did nothing but fuel my exit.

"For a walk." I shot over my shoulder, low enough so that the humans wouldn't hear.

"Jasper!" Alice hissed back furiously but I ignored her and stalked from the cafeteria.

I was undecided as to where I was going until I heard her. I knew it was her, I could pinpoint her smell even from just outside the cafeteria. Eliza.

The strumming of the guitar and her voice singing above it, wavering and sweet and yet ringing with a clear confidence was so melancholy and beautiful I was automatically drawn towards it.

I lingered outside the rehearsal room door listening but eventually couldn't stop myself from peering in to see her.

She was with that boy that Alice now so despised, he was gawking at her with waves of lust rolling off him whilst she played to the space just beside him. I could feel her embarrassment as she sang but she was also feeling the sadness that went with the song, her posture was hunched as she tried to shrink into her guitar.

I stared at her face, her eyes were glazed over, watching some kind of scene in her head that caused them to burn with emotion. My eyes were repeatedly drawn towards her mouth as I watched her lips move around the words and I could see why Edward liked looking at her so much.

I dragged my eyes away as I recognized the sound and smell of Alice and Edward fast approaching. I was immediately tense and alerted by the panic that pounded off them and searched around for a sign of threat - there was nothing.

(Alice)

The vision hit me so hard, rushing into my mind and blinding me without a hint of warning. Then my world was crashing around me, leaving me gasping for air and clawing at my throat.

Jasper's hand idly playing with her hair as he gazed into her eyes, a serenity I had never seen before there written on his face, in his softly smiling lips. "I can't stay away from you."

Before I could emerge from drowning in my horror I heard Edward's hand slam into the table as he wrenched himself to standing. We looked at each other once, our faces reflections of each others alarm at what we had just seen, and then we were both storming from the cafeteria as quickly as seemed human.

"The rehearsal room." He growled to me, he had been following Jasper's mind after he had left.

I couldn't reply; I was in turmoil. What had happened? What had Eliza done to trigger the vision with such ferocious certainty? I needed to see for myself.

We turned the corner and Jasper was there, his eyes dark and tense as he glared at us. He could feel our panic. I let my senses spread and I heard her in the room Jasper was stood outside, as if he'd been peering in. She was singing. She hadn't done anything. It was Jasper who had decided the fate of his future.

"What is it?" His voice was rough, puzzled.

"What are you doing?" My voice wailed, high and wobbling from the stress.

"I was just watching…"

"Jasper let's go. Now!" I didn't need to hear it, I could see what he had been doing. His complete obliviousness to what his actions had decided made the whole situation even more hopeless. He could feel my distress and was instantly at my side as I darted outside to the parking lot.

We wordlessly slipped into the car – the second time since Eliza had arrived I was attempting to run away from her.

Jasper didn't say a word as I swung out of school, only when I started driving in the opposite direction to home did he ask, "Where are we going?"

"Away." I knew that there was no way I could avoid telling Jasper now, maybe if I told him we could work to change the future together. Unless… unless Jasper didn't want to fix it? No. That was stupid. Jasper would always choose me.

"Are you going to tell me why?" His voice was cold and I could tell I'd upset him, I hadn't exactly been nice to him back there. But I just couldn't find the words to voice what I'd seen – that felt like it would make it too real.

"Jazz…" my voice was strangled as I trailed off apologetically.

"What is it?" his voice was suddenly gentle, his hand on my lap sending comforting waves to me, he could obviously feel my suffering. I felt like I was choking again as I knew I couldn't survive if I lost Jasper and yet it seemed like that was going to happen all too soon.

"I had a vision…" I whimpered. "About you. You were with someone else."

A low snarl ripped from Jasper, startling me and I turned to stare at him as his outrage crashed through the car. "No!" He looked terrifying, like how I had imagined him to look in battle – his face burning, his lips curled back over his teeth and for a moment I was scared of him. I sharply pulled onto the side of the road. The sun was breaking through the clouds and shone through the trees, casting a golden ray of light into the car. Jasper glittered, the silver of his scars glinting in the light, gloriously beautiful and smoldering like the sun; my chest ached dully.

"With Eliza." My voice broke, barely even a whisper.

The silence was deafening as his eyes burnt into mine, his whole body tense and perfectly still. And then, just like that, he was gone, flinging himself out of the door and sprinting hard into the trees and away from the car. I was so stunned I couldn't even bring myself to shout after him – I just continued to stare open mouthed at the spot where he had been a second before.


	8. Chapter 8

_Previously: Alice's worst nightmare is confirmed as the vision of Eliza and Jasper returns with a vengeance. Devastated, she finally tells Jasper about the visions._

(Eliza)

The sun was still shining after it had broken through the clouds just after lunch. It was the first time I had seen it since I had arrived in Forks and it was like seeing it for the first time. I was suddenly appreciative of the green world outside the classroom window, I wanted to be in it, to smell the wetness in the grass and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.

I couldn't wait for school to finish, I messaged mum to let her know I would be walking home that evening – it would only take half an hour. Finally the bell rang to signal the end and I said bye to Damien and Nick who I was in Maths with last lesson, setting off quickly out of school. I crossed the road to the forested side, making sure I was still safely in the sun and removed my grey mac that had become my uniform, wrapping it around my waist.

I walked slowly, breathing the fresh air deep into my lungs and watching the water glinting on the leaves in the forest. Every now and then the sun seemed to catch on something else deeper in the shade of the trees and it would reflect painfully back into my eyes. Every time I would blink the light out of my eyes and then try to squint to see what it was; I couldn't see anything amiss in the trees, and I could never get the right position in the sun to catch the glint again.

Halfway home I groaned as the ever threatening clouds moved in front of the warm sun, plunging the world into a dark shadow again. I stopped to pull my mac on when a sound in the forest, like a rustle of leaves on the ground as someone stepped over them, made me pause to look.

Footsteps were approaching in my directions from the depth of the forest and I nervously looked around, realizing I had turned off the main road to walk to scenic route along a quieter lane with one or two empty looking houses on it. The road was empty; the sound of cars flying by on the highway (that was too far away for comfort) was the only noise or movement apart from the crunching footsteps in the forest.

I had just turned to take a hasty step away from the trees when a voice froze me in my tracks. "Eliza." The voice was low and inviting, thrilling me both with fear and a strange fluttering in my stomach. I knew even before I saw him that he was going to be gorgeous but I still couldn't help my breathlessness as I laid my eyes on him.

He looked like the sun in human form emerging from between the trees, his hair glistening gold with the dew from the leaves and wilder than the neat curls they normally laid in. His tall body was obviously toned in the dark blue flannel shirt that had been opened to the white t-shirt that shadowed the well formed muscles in his chest and stomach. His eyes were dark, his face hard and angular – he looked dangerous. But so enticing.

The swooping in my stomach took me by surprise as I surveyed him, I had never really properly looked at Jasper before. He was every bit, if not more so, as stunning as Edward. Mind you, I had never seen him look like this – unrestrained.

"Jasper?" My voice was high and squeaky, I sounded scared.

"What are you doing here?" he asked slowly and I realized I was scared. His voice was so enticing it was almost sinister, and there was some kind of blistering emotion in his eyes that I couldn't read.

"I could ask you the same." I answered shakily, surreptitiously bracing myself to run.

He laughed darkly at that, his eyes seemed to be calculating me, obviously seeing right through my brave masquerade. It was quiet for a few tense moments before he visibly relaxed, his face becoming a little softer. "Don't worry I'm not following you, I went for a walk after lunch."

"You skipped school?" I slowly abandoned the notion of running away as he stepped out of the darkness beneath the trees, joining me on the pavement but keeping his distance.

"I didn't miss much." He smiled nonchalantly at me and my heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah. I was considering doing the same when the sun came out. I'm just not rebellious enough." I eyed him pointedly and he barked a laugh, taking me by surprise. Jasper was always so still and silent at school, like nothing ever interested him that seeing him laugh sent me into a bit of a spin and I ogled at him. He was adorable.

His laughter died and I hurriedly pulled my thoughts back together. "That's what I'm doing here." I explained.

"Enjoying the sun?"

"Exactly." I shifted my bag on my shoulder. At least it didn't look like Jasper had a problem with me.

(Jasper)

I planned to kill her. It had only taken a split second, one look at Alice's tortured face, the desolation swimming off her. I couldn't let anything hurt her, especially not a weak little girl.

I had leapt from the car and sprinted back in the direction of the school, automatically making myself as silent and invisible as possible as I slipped into hunt mode. It was easy as walking a signposted path to her, her scent easily distinguishable from the hundreds of other humans around her. I placed myself in the trees across from the school, keeping out of the sun as I scoured the school with my eyes, keeping watch.

Finally the bell rang for the end of school and I tensed as I saw her emerge. I expected her to climb into the normal silver ford vehicle that came to pick her up, but she quickly stepped through the parking lot and skipped across the road to the forest – right towards me.

I was shaken by her approach and held my breath as she peered into the trees, as if she could see me. And then she continued walking, her gaze still searching the woods. I was momentarily stunned as I watched her go, what was she doing? Had she seen me? I stealthily followed her from the treetops, my resolve to kill her disturbed somewhat as my curiosity stabbed at me.

Her goal didn't become any more clear as she continued to walk, her eyes always on the trees. My mind raced as I searched for her emotions, trying to use them to make sense of what she was doing. But she was nothing but blissfully happy, like all of her worries had been snipped away and this confused me even more. What was so engrossing in the leaves she stared at so intensely?

Even though my conscience heaved at me to snap back into hunt mode, that this was the girl that was troubling Alice so much, that was threatening our very relationship, I couldn't stop watching her. Suddenly she was one of the most interesting things I had seen for decades and the urge to continue watching was extremely contrasting with my desire to kill her.

When she turned from the main road to continue walking the forest edge on a more deserted route, the sun slid behind the clouds and I knew that it was now or never. I dropped from the trees to … kill her? Talk to her? I didn't even know which one it was.

She heard me coming immediately, it seemed she had been on alert this whole time as she spun to stare in my direction, her frame tensing as she sensed the danger approaching. She had good instincts.

I felt her fear build until she buckled and turned to run. "Eliza." I called out smoothly without thinking. I had to stop her before somebody realized she was there; I didn't want any potential witnesses. She faltered and turned back, seeing me this time. I felt her fear vanish to be promptly replaced with some kind of longing only to slowly trickle back.

"Jasper?" Her voice wobbled and she was terrified now, I could see the hairs raised on her skin.

"What are you doing here?" I was annoyed at her for making this so easy for me; I would have had more of an excuse not to kill her if she wasn't so pathetically alone. Still I was careful to keep my voice inviting, I didn't want her to run away.

"I could ask you the same." Despite her clear terror her words were cutting in defiance and I found myself laughing at her unexpected outburst, looking at her properly now.

Her milky white skin was perfect and deliciously soft on her little arms. All of her was petite, not as painfully thin as Alice but she was naturally tiny. Her head didn't even come to my shoulder, her pointed chin drawn safely to her neck as she almost cringed away from me. Her eyes were wide, a startling shot of color against the darkness of her hair and paleness of her skin – a deep rippled blue. How could this innocent little creature possibly have caused such sudden chaos in my life?

Despite all of this, lurking somewhere in the fear that screamed inside her was a burning sense of determination; it was almost laughable. She wasn't planning on going down without a fight.

It was then that the curiosity in me won over the predator and I knew I couldn't kill her.

"Don't worry I'm not following you, I went for a walk after lunch." I relaxed the muscles that were so ready to leap at her, making my voice breezy as I lied through my teeth.

As if she somehow knew the danger had passed her fear filtered away and she relaxed into the conversation. "You skipped school?"

If only she knew how many times I had taken the classes she was going through for the first time, I could repeat them back to her practically word for word. I smiled at her naivety, "I didn't miss much."

I heard her heart flutter and the heat of her feelings and I felt a little disorientated. I should go home to Alice now, I didn't need to communicate any further with this human. I had decided I wouldn't kill her now, that was enough. But I couldn't believe that this girl could possibly come between me and Alice, she was so weak and insignificant, and I felt nothing romantic in the slightest for her.

My curiosity was still strong but that was just because I wasn't used to interacting with humans wasn't it? Alice had to be mistaken somehow, maybe the vision had been a fantasy this girl had dreamt up that in some warped universe could have possibly come true – but it wasn't the future I chose. I wanted Alice and nobody other than Alice. Life without Alice wouldn't be worth living.

"Yeah. I was considering doing the same when the sun came out. I'm just not rebellious enough." Her humorous comeback took me by surprise, slapping me out of my musing as I laughed. "That's what I'm doing here."

I was glad I hadn't killed this human; it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, relief from both my certainty in Alice and also from not distinguishing this girl's life. It would have been an awful waste. "Enjoying the sun?"

"Exactly."

I decided it was time to go home to my wife and let this human continue about her life – one that I probably wasn't going to be much involved in anymore. I would leave her to Edward, or Damien. I apologized for keeping Eliza from her walk and she laughed, a tinkling trill. I hoped that whoever it was she ended up with they could keep her looking like that rather than the sullen, withdrawn face she sported around school.


	9. Chapter 9

_Previously: Alice tells Jasper of her visions involving him and Eliza - he decides to kill Eliza but for some reason can't bring himself to do it._

(Edward)

The rest of the week was going to be intermittently sunny so I took it off school. I was annoyed, I could have used the distraction now Alice and Jasper were gone, the house gloomy in their absence. I grudgingly accepted that I was a little disgruntled at the idea of leaving Eliza to Damien, despite the uprooting effect she had had on my family.

Everything had happened pretty quickly after Alice's vision in the cafeteria. Her and Jasper had taken off and when they returned they were decided on moving away, much to Esme's dismay.

Alice told them half the truth, a perfect actress as she muttered to Esme in hushed sorrowful tones about the vision she'd had of Jasper losing control and killing a human. They were going to leave to see if this would change the vision in any way and if it didn't then they would return.

Esme was still upset but I could see she would never be able to ask them to stay, to risk someone's life for her own selfish reasons. Alice and Jasper quickly did their rounds of saying goodbye to everyone and then they were gone.

(Eliza)

None of the Cullen's were in school the day after I had spoken to Jasper at the forest and they didn't return all week. I vaguely wondered what it could be keeping them off school – maybe they'd gone on holiday; I should have been relieved that I didn't have to try and predict what mood they were going to be in, but I was strangely disappointed by their absence. I was curious about Jasper after our stunted conversation the other day and my days were distinctly less exciting without Edward's intense bizarre colored eyes on me.

But still, I felt like I was much more settled by the time the weekend rolled around. Damien had accepted me graciously into his small group of him, Nick and Liam; all of whom were easy and comfortable to be around. They were all pretty goofy and I enjoyed being with them – it made me almost look forward to seeing them again at school on Monday.

Damien was still by far my favourite person I had met, but I couldn't help but feel apprehensive as I approached my first class on Monday, half hoping, half dreading seeing the glorious faces of Alice and Jasper as that would mean Edward was back as well.

I tired to ignore the nervous jittering in my stomach as I hesitated outside the door but I couldn't ignore the sinking disappointment I felt at the empty seats beside mine. They still weren't back.

I kept my face impassive as I sat in my seat and fought against the slump in my mood; it was a good thing they weren't here, it meant I was going to have another easy day. And a dull one. I added surreptitiously, trying but failing to picture Edward's probing eyes and low voice.

English was boring and predictable, almost an exact replica of the lessons I had taken back home now the class showed a little interest in the text. I hadn't participated once since that second class. The shrill bell signalled the end of lesson and I moved sluggishly to my next class, hoping it would pass quickly so I could meet Damien in our usual place. It had become a bit of a routine to meet in the rehearsal room at lunch so we could jam for half an hour before heading to the cafeteria where Nick and Liam would tease us about our "alone time".

I pondered on Damien's face as I walked, he felt so familiar already, someone I could rely on to always be smiling and happy to be with me.

I was lost in thought as I entered Biology, moving with my head down to my seat; so it was with an audible gasp I was shocked out of my reverie as I glanced up and was met with the piercing golden eyes of Edward Cullen.

Once again his appearance caught me off guard, shaking me to my core as I tried to comprehend how beautiful he was even in just a plain grey t shirt and jeans. His mouth was twisting into a crooked smile as he stared, almost as if he could hear my internal struggle to come back to Earth. "Good morning." He spoke slowly and his voice was like music to my ears.

"Morning." My voice cracked and I couldn't break his gaze to move my seat, instead I just stood there like an idiot.

"How was English?" he looked like he was holding back a laugh as his eyes appraised me, looking me up and down. I forced myself to regain control of my limbs and moved woodenly to the seat beside him, swinging my bag onto the table. My mind finally caught up with me and I scolded myself for reacting so pathetically to his presence, the last time I had seen Edward he had been extremely cold and I wasn't going to forgive that just because he looked particularly stunning today.

"It was okay." I dragged my eyes from his to my bag. I noted that he didn't seem distant today at all, his eyes had been radiating with such a warm emotion it had put me off balance. Even so, I pressed my lips together and kept my eyes away from his as I unpacked and looked around me at the rest of the class when I was finished.

"Just okay?"

"Yep."

"Are you okay?" He asked pointedly but I could hear the smothered laughter in his voice which angered me even more. Who did he think he was? More to the point, who did he think I was that he could treat like dirt one minute and then like some fascinating science experiment the next?

I shot him a dirty look and said coldly "Great thanks."

His eyebrows raised and eyes widened in surprise at my cutting tone, the laughter sliding off his face completely. I was secretly pleased that I had had the same effect on him as his confusing mood swings had on me.

I turned back to the front and the silence was heavy after my words. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke. "I think I owe you an apology." Well that was unexpected.

I frowned over at him, careful to keep my expression disapproving. "Why?"

His eyes were searching my face, looking for a sign of me letting up. He found none. "I haven't been the friendliest to you since you arrived… sometimes I've been downright rude."

I raised a single eyebrow. So he knew he was being a tool. Still I admired the way he could come out and admit it, most people would be in denial. And his apology seemed pretty heartfelt. Still, it wasn't enough just to apologise and then go on to do the same thing again.

"Why do you act like that sometimes?" My voice wasn't as hard and his shoulders relaxed a little, his eyes never leaving mine. He didn't answer for quite a while and I found myself wondering if he was ever going to.

"Sometimes I don't know how to behave around you."

His words burnt with the same intensity in his eyes and the butterflies in my stomach erupted into flight, their wings hot and distracting. What was I angry about again? I felt like I was melting into his eyes and the world swam in front of me. "Eliza?" My name sounded so beautiful when he spoke it. "…Eliza?"

I fell back to reality with a crunch and realized too late that my face had gone slack and I was leaning towards him. I straightened hurriedly, my face flushing beet red as I gathered my thoughts. "S-sorry." I mumbled and his chuckling shook through me, I really was losing it. I grasped at my previous purpose, but I was grasping at straws, my resolve slowly slipping from me as his eyes drilled into me. "Erm… what do you mean you don't know how to … around me…" I pulled my hair from over my shoulder to shield me from his gaze.

His voice however was smooth and untroubled. "I'm normally very good at reading people, but you're different." My eyes flickered to his of their own accord.

It was like he was saying everything I could ever want to hear and I could barely believe my ears, especially since the words were coming from someone so divine as Edward. I had no idea what to say, my mind was reeling but it so happened that I couldn't say anything anyway as the teacher chose that moment to begin the lecture.

As usual, the lecture disbanded after a little while for an experiment to take place. I had no idea what to do but Edward's quick hands sorted out the equipment placed in front of us as he set to work. It didn't look like anything could distract him.

"What did you mean…different?" I asked quietly, feeling the blush threatening to consume me again. I didn't meet his eyes, just watched his long fingered hands work.

He didn't reply for a long time again, and I squirmed in my seat impatiently. "You never do what I expect you to do."

Now it was my turn to be silent as his words sunk in. I still couldn't make sense of them. I expected it was just because I was new here that he didn't know what to expect from me. The kids in the school here at Forks had been here all their lives, everybody knew everybody, of course I stood out like a sore thumb. The hippy English girl. I'd heard someone refer to me as that in hushed tones as I'd passed them in the halls. That didn't bother me, but it did bother me that Edward seemed to be putting me on a pedestal, assuming I was some kind of enigma he had to figure out. It wouldn't be long before he realized I was just as average as anybody else, and then what would he do? Drop me like yesterdays jam most probably.

He sighed and it shook me from my reflecting as I noticed he was observing me with frustrated eyed. "It's not because you're new, and it's not because you're English."

I blinked. How did he know I'd been thinking that?

"Then I don't get it."

"You don't need to get it. Just trust me, you're not like anybody else I know."

I frowned down at the experiment we had both abandoned for now. It sounded like he was trying to tell me that I perplexed him as much as he did me. I didn't know if that was an excuse to act like he hated me every now and then but it was enough to distract me from that fact. My heart was racing; I liked the idea of confusing Edward. I liked it too much.

"Well… I always knew I was a weirdo." I joked to cover up how much his words had flustered me.

"Weird is right." Edward's voice was smoldering and I just couldn't get control of my hammering heart.

"Bad weird?"

"Definitely not."


	10. Chapter 10

(Edward)

Her heart was racing as if she'd run a mile, her cheeks spiked with pink beneath her freckles as she took in what I was saying, but her voice was light as she joked. It was too easy to kid myself that making her feel this way was okay, that I could dazzle her as much as I wanted – and I really wanted to.

But it wasn't okay. I was well aware that it would just take a few words from me and I could distract her completely from her future with Damien, redirect it onto me, but that would be all kinds of wrong. Not only would it be endangering her life but it would be risking her finding out the truth about us – for which the punishment was death. But she was so tempting, and so willing.

I had planned to behave as if we were strangers, I was angry for the devastation she had caused my family even though I knew she hadn't actually done anything. Yet. And then I'd heard her looking for Alice and Jasper, her disappointment when they weren't there because that meant I wouldn't be there either. Even throughout my cruelness she wanted to see me, to talk to me, it was too tempting. I couldn't resist making the most of this opportunity to explore her without Alice's visions clouding my judgment of her.

It was like the time apart over the week had increased her sensitivity to me, her thoughts frequently scattered by my words. I couldn't help but feel intensely satisfied as she came to the conclusion that she liked the effect I had on her, and the effect she now knew she had on me.

"So where did you go last week?"

Her words brought me back to the reality of the situation and I hoped against all reason that Alice's visions would change. There was no way of me knowing now they had moved out of my listening range, unless Alice called to tell me otherwise. I assumed that in her silence things still remained the same; that for some inexplicable reason Eliza's fate somehow intertwined with Jasper's.

"We make the most of the good weather and go hiking when it's sunny."

Her nose wrinkled at the thought of hiking, and I could see that wasn't her idea of enjoying the weather. I could see her memories of strolling through the woods, in awe of the surrounding nature; or laying in the grass with a book.

"Where did you go hiking?"

"Just in the mountains."

"Why aren't Alice and Jasper back?"

I tensed at the mention of Jasper, I had to keep her mind off him at all costs – I would do everything in my power to change her fate. I wouldn't let her get hurt, and I wouldn't let my family be torn apart.

"They're staying with some relatives in Alaska for a while." She noted the coolness of my tone and raised an eyebrow. I quickly elaborated. "Alice's uncle is sick." I lied smoothly and she nodded, not asking anymore. She knew I didn't like questions about family, even if she was curious.

I wished I could just talk openly about my family but it was just much too dangerous territory for her to go near, if I started answering questions about them she was smart enough to quickly spot some loopholes in my lies.

"What did you do this weekend?" I asked to distract her.

She thought about her weekend, I could see she spent it alone either outside or in her room – always doing something creative or just thinking. It was strange, didn't she have any urge to go out shopping or to socialize like most people?

"Not much, just chilled." Her answer was as vague and avoiding as mine.

"What does 'just chilling' involve?" I could see her relaxing into the normal routine of my interrogations, ridiculously happy then that I wasn't ignoring her. I felt a pang of guilt at my previous behavior and made a swift promise to myself that I wouldn't do that again.

"Like reading, writing, playing music and stuff." She said slowly and nervously, carefully observing me to see if I thought she was weird. I did think she was weird, and that was why I couldn't stay away from her.

"You write?"

I could see in her thoughts that she was extremely uncomfortable talking about her writing, that it was the most private thing she did and she didn't want to share it with anyone.

"Yeah, every now and then."

"What about?"

Stories, dreams, diary entries, songs all swooped through her mind and the urge to get my hands on these documents increased inside me. I wondered if it would be too much for me to raid her room. Probably.

"Not much, just songs and stuff."

I chuckled at her careful dodging of the questions and her mind was scrambled again. "Didn't you go out?"

Oh god here we go. Her inward cringing caught my attention and I delved deeper into her thoughts. I'm not going to be so interesting when he realizes I don't actually do anything. I could see the comfort she found in being alone, enjoying nothing more than being left to her own devices. Her mind kept her company and when that wasn't enough she had always had a small close group of friends or her brother. "No…" was all she said, trailing off awkwardly. Please don't ask any more.

No chance.

"Why not?"

Because people get on my nerves. "I quite like being alone." Her eyes flickered to me nervously. Once again her translation of her thoughts amused me and my smirk intrigued her. "What?"

"I just know what you mean."

"You like being alone?"

"Every now and then." Her lips turned up slightly and I couldn't take my eyes off them.

"Every now and then…" she repeated slowly and I watched her lips mouth the words. She was picturing me alone, wondering what I did to entertain myself but was hesitant to ask giving my trap record of answering her. I regretting giving her the cold shoulder again, for making her unsure how to interact with me. I glanced back up to her eyes which were now watching me watching her, her eyes glinting and her thoughts distractedly changing track. What is he looking at?

I realized that at some point during the conversation I had turned my body to face hers, leaning on my arm that was draped on the desk, my fingertips inches from her arm. I saw myself through her eyes and was aware of the heat of her thoughts, the space between our bodies seemed somehow thick with tension that sparked. How interesting.

"Speaking of being alone..." I spoke slowly, unsure as always how she would react to my question. She was still distracted, as aware of the tension as I was. "As you've noticed Alice and Jasper aren't here which means I don't have anyone to spend lunch with. If you don't have any plans-" I knew very well of her regular plans to meet with Damien in the rehearsal room, but I was confident I could change that if I just went about it the right way. I had learnt that assuming she would do what I asked her irritated her and that was the reason she often turned me down – I wouldn't be making that mistake again. "… would you mind accompanying me?"

I was unprepared for her laughter that was loud and high, unlike any noise I'd heard her make before – she was always quiet and soft spoken. She had found my formality both hilarious and endearing and I found myself chuckling along with her laughter that was highly contagious. "Okay, I'll accompany you!" she giggled as her laughter died, her eyes watering, Damien all but forgotten.


	11. Chapter 11

_Previously: Edward finally gets back into Eliza's good books, and in Alice and Jasper's absence, they begin to get to know each other._

(Edward)

My life was becoming one big confliction. I didn't know what to feel about anything to do with Eliza. The next day I naturally followed her mind all the way through school, from beginning to end, drinking her thoughts as hungrily as I would her blood. It was startling the difference in her thoughts after lunch together yesterday, the way she was so consumed with images of me afterwards – replaying snippets of conversations, my facial expressions, wondering what I was thinking or doing right now, picturing futures. She would often scold herself, reminding herself of her plan not to get involved with anyone during her year here and then attempting to focus on something else like Damien or her lessons. In the end her mind would always drift back to me.

Whilst this was flattering and a reflection of my own mind about her; it was also extremely worrying. It was the perfect example of how easy it was to seduce a human, to make them as vulnerable as possible so that you could do whatever you wanted with them with minimal fuss. It made me sick but it was also so tempting. If I wanted her, I could have her. And I definitely wanted her.

But then there was the question as to whether this was in her best interests, which I was in no doubt that it wasn't at all. It was the single most dangerous thing for her to get involved with me. It was selfish and reckless of me and yet when she was beside me, her mind was like a fine wine to a recovering alcoholic, I needed to indulge.

As if to reiterate my point I heard her first class end and her compulsion to get to me as quickly as possible. I saw through her eyes as she peeked around the door to classroom and her thoughts ignite as she laid her eyes on me. I couldn't help but smile at her disbelief at my beauty, that she could possibly be allowed to interact with someone like me. If only she knew just how imperfect I actually was. Maybe one day she'd find out.

She approached me and I was suddenly aware of her scent, it seemed so much stronger today and it washed over me, making venom pool in my mouth. I looked up at her, forgetting to swallow my venom as the sight of her sent my mind into a spin.

She was dressed more simply today in pale jeans and a plain white t-shirt that clung to her figure, amplifying just how breakable she really was – how tiny she was. Her long hair was slung up in a messy ponytail, her bare face and long pale neck making her look somehow naked. She was so beautiful.

My silent glaring was making her feel self conscious as she walked towards me, mentally checking that she had all of her clothes on the right way, and with great effort I forced myself to relax, finally swallowing the venom in my mouth. "Hey." Her lips quivered as she smiled, sitting down gently beside me.

"Hello." My voice revealing some of the aching longing inside me. But what did I want? I wanted to reach out and touch her bare skin, feel it's heat beneath my fingers. I wanted to crush her to me and bury my face in her neck, breathe in her clean scent. I wanted to taste her skin, and then I wanted to sink my teeth in to her soft flesh and drink her.

No. No. I mentally slapped myself. I couldn't think like that – I wouldn't give in to the monster inside me. I wasn't Jasper, I was the better choice, I would never harm this girl beside me.

She had noticed and her heart had sped up again. Nobody's ever looked at me like this before, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing. Her instincts were warning her that something was wrong, they could sense the potential threat in my dark eyes and tense posture, in the enticing voice. It reminded her of something and her mind scrambled to try and remember exactly what it was. Then the memory of Jasper emerging from between dark trees flashed in her mind, his voice had been stormy too but so alluring.

When had that happened? When had she been alone with Jasper? I had to clamp my mouth shut to keep myself from asking straight away, I couldn't reveal the fact that I could hear her thoughts. I knew enough about her to know she was extremely private, very rarely revealing what was actually going through her mind. I couldn't imagine my ability would sit very comfortably with her.

"How has your morning been?" I forced myself to start a normal conversation, she was beginning freak out in my violent gaze. My voice was still tense and she bit her lip. Don't do that, I inwardly begged her, my eyes fastened on her plump lower lip caught between her white teeth, watching the blood raise to the surface at the pressure. Why was I so aware of her blood this morning? It was like I could smell it 10x more than yesterday.

"Erm, okay. Pretty boring. How was yours?"

"Average. Is English improving?"

"Not really. I've studied Faustus before." She was distracted by my fierce gaze on her mouth. So was I.

"What do you think to it?" The conversation was forced, I was searching for something she either said or thought to distract me from the almost overwhelming blood lust I was feeling for her. I needed to be more careful, I should hunt more regularly.

Of course, at the mention of any kind of literature Eliza's mind always leapt into action even if she barely noticed it. In a split second she would consider things she liked and disliked which in turn revealed things about her character.

It was enough, and I slowly regained control over myself as her mind distracted me, eventually able to relax again which lead to Eliza relaxing as well.

The lesson passed quickly after that and it was time for lunch again. Eliza suddenly stopped in the middle of a sentence and turned to me, her eyes narrowed as she considered me. I saw her plan before she spoke, she wanted to introduce me to her friends this lunch.

I was surprised, I knew she had enjoyed being alone with me yesterday, she had been completely absorbed and not thought about anything else so where this sudden urge to be with other people had come from I didn't understand.

I didn't like the thought, especially when that meant I'd have to listen to Damien's pathetically jealous and lustful thoughts in close proximity whilst giving the appearance of being friendly to him. And I hadn't forgotten how close he had been from stealing her from me. I couldn't allow that to happen.

It was then that I realised that the decision had been made that I would make Eliza mine. It disturbed me, when had I decided that? That meant that I would take away any kind of natural future for her. I didn't need visions of the future to know that whilst I was around, Eliza had no interest in being with Damien and I wanted to keep it that way. Despite everything I wanted her to be mine and mine alone, and there was no way I was going to let him get in the way of that.


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously: Edward decides to make Eliza his, and accepts that this means removing her from her natural future with Damien._

(Edward)

Lunch was as expected, the boys that Eliza nervously introduced me to eyed me with distrust, seeing me as a threat to their territory. The Damien boy in particular was very sour about my presence, he knew that whilst I was around he had no chance it getting Eliza's attention. I wasn't so sure anymore, Eliza always took me by surprise. Her determination in not abandoning him had been unexpected to say the least, she hadn't swayed despite all my efforts to both charm her, distract her and finally intimidate her. That was why I was here.

The conversations had been awkward and stunted at first as Eliza attempted to bring the group back around to their normal flow of conversation, Damien valiantly stepping in cheerfully, despite his inward sulking. To their credit the boys did attempt to include me in their talk, asking me what music I was into and what I did in my spare time to which I answered as politely and precisely as possible, keeping the answers short so I could get back to keeping a careful watch on both Eliza and Damien's mind.

It didn't escape my notice that every time Eliza spoke or laughed Damien lost track of his thoughts, watching her like she was a lifeline thrown to drowning man. I couldn't believe that she wasn't noticing it, instead interpreting his gazes for moral support and a generally friendly nature. His friends were all in on Damien's crush and his lovesick expression was obvious to them too.

Every time he spoke he catered for her, and despite myself I was impressed by his careful studying of her, how he knew exactly what she liked and didn't like. He knew she liked his smile and he threw it around haphazardly, that she liked his considerateness, which was the only reason he involved me in the conversations, which tone of voice she liked and her sense of humour. That sneaky bastard.

The week passed in a blur, the morbid atmosphere that haunted my house in Alice and Jasper's absence growing everyday as Esme despaired more and more. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but part of me was now hoping for them not to return; things were going so smoothly without them here.

It was peaceful not seeing all the good and bad things that could possibly happen between me and Eliza in the future, allowing me to focus on the present, how I could please her more now.

I took a leaf out of Damien's book and inspected her closer than ever, noting her likes and dislikes and making sure not to cross her again.

I realised that she liked talking about music more than anything and I quickly centred most of my questioning around that, researching the music she spoke of. She didn't much like talking about her family – we were similar in that way so I avoided those kind of questions. She liked deep conversations but preferred silly humour, finding particular pleasure in my dated style of talking and sarcasm.

I continued to spend lunch with her and the boys, contributing more and more to the conversations much to her delight. Not that they much interested me but it was easier to keep an eye on her and steer her away from Damien's influence that way. Still, he continued to grab her attention and fought desperately to keep it once he had it before I had to gently intervene without alerting Eliza to my intentions. Damien wasn't so easily fooled however and he often shot daggers at me when she wasn't looking, his thoughts making his real opinion of me perfectly clear. He despised me, and I him.

As expected by the time the weekend arrived I knew that I couldn't face 48 hours without the company of Eliza or her mind, especially with things as they stood at home. I began stationing myself outside her house, well hidden in the trees but within hearing distance of her movements and thoughts.

It was from this hiding place that I really got to know her, where she constantly amazed me with her musings and creativity. Her imagination was beautiful and vivid and constantly roaming, something I hadn't experienced at school where her mind was always on myself or some other distraction. It didn't escape my notice that she thought regularly of myself still, and the triumph that filled me was stupid – I shouldn't be this involved with a human. But I was saving her, I quickly reprimanded myself, I was a 10x better option than the death that would come if I let Jasper have her. And what about Damien? A little voice spoke and I guiltily ignored it, instead telling myself that Damien would never stand a chance against Jasper either.

At nighttime when I was certain she was sleeping, I scaled the wall and peered hesitantly into her room. I knew that I was completely breaching the privacy that she so treasured but I just couldn't help myself. I needed to see her when she was completely herself.

Her room was busy and cluttered, full of ornaments, books, music and clothes strewn all over the floor. She lay sprawled face down in her bed, one bare leg out of the covers, her knotted and tangled hair billowing over the pillow, face turned from the window. I froze as I examined the milky skin of her leg, the gentle curve of her thigh that disappeared into the quilt. I wanted to see her face, see her completely at peace as she slept.

I opened the window silently and easily slipped into her room that smelt so richly of her. I moved around to the other side of the bed and gazed into her face, a smile spreading. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed heavily through her nose, her eyes moving quickly beneath lilac eyelids. She looked so childlike and innocent it was as amusing as it was hypnotising.

I stayed there all night, watching her face as I listened to her intense and bizarre dreams that I sometimes had to smother my laughter at, her heartbeat and slow breathing the only noise in the room. When the light began to filter in through the pale curtains I knew my time was up and I moved noiselessly from the room back outside, taking up my original spot in the trees, awaiting her waking up.


	13. Chapter 13

_Previously: Edward's obsession with Eliza increases as he battles with Damien for her affection._

(Eliza)

After a shaky start, last week had ended up being the best week at school yet. As I'd known they would, the boys welcomed Edward warmly into their group, Nick swiftly changing his tune and admitting Edward wasn't as pretentious as he initially thought.

I felt like I was finally beginning to scratch the surface of Edward, picking apart his bizarrely formal mannerisms and realising we shared a passion for music.

Although I rarely got a chance to fit in any questions of my own between his never-ending interrogations, I could generally sense which of my answers appealed most to him.

He shared my view on the majority of modern popular music, his mouth taking on a small, satisfied smile as I ranted about it. In fact he seemed to enjoy whenever I felt strongly about something, happily joining me in my analysing of people's behaviour, films or politics – although he did admittedly seem more interested in what I thought of these things rather than the subjects themselves.

He finally stopped with the mood swings and continued to be predictably curious and polite and perfect.

The weekend rolled around too quickly and I was almost disappointed that I would have to spend it alone instead of having my brain picked by Edward or being made to laugh by Damien. I half wished I had the confidence to ask either of them to do something but I felt like I would be intruding Edward, and I knew that Damien wouldn't hesitate to ask me if that was an option.

So instead I fell back into my routine of filling my free time with songs, novels and writing. The track of my writing had changed somewhat since last weekend, taking on a less morbid tone and a more hopeful and romantic one. Although I never wrote specifically of Edward I couldn't deny that he was (sometimes not so) subconsciously always in my mind and moulded the majority of the lyrics I wrote that weekend.

Before I knew it, Monday was upon me and for once I was the first up in the house – too excited to sleep as lame as that sounds. Whilst I usually didn't feel like I really had the time for other people, always preferring my own company and the entertainment that provided, here I was now preferring interaction to my own little bubble.

I happily waved off my mother before turning and finding Damien leaned against the little beat up black car of his. He had his usual welcoming grin that sparkled that little bit more seeing as I'd been wanting to see it all weekend. "I could come pick you for school you know?"

My eyes roamed the many dents and scrapes in the paintwork of Damien's car and laughed. "I think I'd rather live!"

He eyed his car confusedly. "None of those were my fault!" He laughed back before his face became suddenly serious. It was quite a surprise, Damien so rarely looked serious.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. How was your weekend?"

We began walking into school as we spoke but Damien seemed distracted. Just before we reached the doors he looked around anxiously before grabbing my arm and leading me out of the doorway. "What's wrong?" I asked again, suddenly worried. Something was really bothering Damien to act like this, I wondered if something had happened over the weekend.

"It's about Edward." His voice was low and urgent and my eyes widened in alarm. What had happened to Edward? My stomach lurched.

"What?" I noted the panic in my voice. So did Damien apparently and he watched me carefully, seemingly calculating how to say what he wanted to.

"Erm, do you like him?" He asked slowly and my mind whirred. Why was he asking me that?! Was it really that obvious? Of course I liked Edward, he was gorgeous and interesting and he was quite clearly interested in me seeing as he didn't bother to spend time with anyone else.

I must have spent too long considering this because Damien's frown deepened and he sighed. "Well I guess that answers it…"

The look on his face was so unlike I'd ever seen upon him before that my panic increased. There was nothing wrong with Edward, it was Damien that I was hurting. I realised then why Damien was asking such a thing, could it have been that he liked me?

"No, no I like Edward as a friend!" The words left my lips before I even had a chance to think about it, I had just said the first thing that I knew would take that look off Damien's face. "I, uh, was just wondering why you'd asked me suddenly." I continued, examining the immediate brightening in Damien's face at my lie.

"Oh, oh right." A ghost of his smile was back as he eyed me hopefully. "Well, I just wanted to let you know – just because – I'm worried about you…" He stammered and it was my turn to frown. "I think you should be careful of him."

"Why?"

Once again his eyes checked the parking lot behind me, obviously scared Edward was going to pop up at any second. Then his eyes were back on me, nervous. I really wanted to know what had brought around this, I thought him and Edward had been getting along fine. "I just… don't like him."

His words shocked me. Damien who was always Mr. Friendly and got along with everyone had suddenly developed a grudge against Edward?

"What happened between you two?" I asked.

Damien opened his mouth to answer when his eyes widened at something just behind me, he almost cowered in fear and I didn't even have to turn to see who it was.

"Eliza. Damien." His voice was silky smooth and dangerous and when I turned to look at him his appearance matched. His eyes were burning into Damien, although the rest of his face remained cold and expressionless. Despite myself my heart raced and my breath caught in my throat, his beauty staggering after a weekend of not seeing him. However, my disturbance at the almost palpable tension between the two of them shook me out of it pretty quickly. I knew I had to tread delicately here.

"Hey Edward." I worked hard to keep my voice bright. "How was your weekend?"

Too eager, it was obvious that Edward could tell we had been discussing him. His voice was guarded as he replied to me, finally dragging his eyes off Damien. "Interesting, how was yours?"

"Interesting? What kind of a reply is that?"

My distraction worked and Edward slowly eased up, allowing Damien to straighten himself out and gather himself again. As we continued down the hall Damien quickly made his excuses and practically ran away from Edward as he walked me to my class.

My heart raced as we were left alone, Edward's gaze still held remnants of the fire from glaring at Damien and it was now turned on me. "Hey, what would you think about skipping class today?"

My imagination ran wild at the implications his question held. I had only been at school 2 weeks, skipping already would be hideously stupid but Edward's voice had been just as urgent as Damien's had that morning and had filled me with some kind of thrumming desire to do anything he wanted.

"All day? You know I just started school."

"Just this morning then. It's not like you've never studied Faustus before." His face had that look like he knew I couldn't refuse but for once it didn't irritate me, I really didn't want to refuse him. Damien's question this morning had made me realize just how much I really did like Edward – I'd never met anyone like him and despite how much it conflicted with what I'd told Damien earlier I wanted to explore that feeling.

"Fine, but we're back for biology!"

The smile on Edward's face was glorious but short lived as it was soon clouded over with that mask of nothingness. He took my arm and lead me straight past my class, continuing through the glass doors into the courtyard before looping back on ourselves and taking the trail towards the woods that lined the back of school.

My mind coursed through all sorts of suggestive outcomes, and I became shivery at the concept of getting close to Edward. Could someone as gorgeous as him really be interested in me?

We had just crossed the boundary between the school grounds and the forest, the trees just submerging the school from sight. Edward suddenly stopped and spun to face me. My heart hammered so hard it hurt and I was stunned into being perfectly still as he quickly crossed the space between us.

I couldn't think as he stared down into my face, his body less than a foot from mine. His smell washed over me, a sweet delicious scent and I swayed where I stood. "So you told Damien that you only like me as a friend."

I gasped as his words fell like hammers on my head. How could I reply to that? Could I bring myself to admit I lied and possibly face his rejection? Or what if I said it was true and it turned out he really did feel something for me? I couldn't tell with Edward, his interrogations sometimes felt more like I was a science subject rather than a person he might like.

"Why did you lie?" if I was surprised by his first sentence it was nothing compared to this one. I staggered backwards into a tree, away from the intensity of his eyes and voice, stunned by his confidence.

"What?" was all I could choke, there was no way he knew I'd lied for definite but he was so sure of himself.

He didn't answer, just closed the distance between us again, moving slower this time as if not to frighten me away. I didn't move, if he knew so certainly that it was a lie he didn't look all that opposed to the idea. There was only a few inches between us now and my skin tingled where the cold tree touched my back and the coldness that emanated off his body. Suddenly Damien's words came back to me "I think you should be careful of him" and I saw my compromising position as if from a birds eye view. I was alone, vulnerable and had no escape as he put his hands either side of my head against the tree and leant into me.

"H-How do you know it was a lie?" I challenged him, fear tainting the longing I felt for him.

He raised a single eyebrow. "Was it?"

"Yes." Once again my mouth spoke without conscious effort and I flushed, hanging my head embarrassedly.

"Good." His voice rang in my ears and I peered back up at him hesitantly. He looked so solemn, his eyes quietly smouldering, his jaw hard and square. Why did he always wear that sad look? It didn't look like he thought it was a good thing.

Without thinking I raised a hand and touched his clenched jaw – not even realising what I was doing until I saw it there. It was cold. His eyes seared into mine and my hand trembled just above his skin. He moved slightly so that my fingertips brushed his skin again, watching me carefully all the while. But he wanted this.

Yes, I knew what Damien meant, I could feel that Edward was dangerous, but I couldn't help myself.

Without a second thought my hand reached up and locked in his hair, pulling my face up to his rather than dragging him down. I placed my lips which felt like fire against his icy ones.


	14. Chapter 14

_Previously: Even after Damien's warnings about Edward, Eliza finally makes a move and kisses him!_

(Edward)

It had finally happened. Jasper had returned without Alice.

He had arrived in the morning just as I'd returned home from watching Eliza sleep to hunt before school, devastated and broken. He had only come back because he knew what would happen if he'd remained alone – meaning he would have lost his control and reverted back to being a monster.

As he explained what had happened to a shocked Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett I picked out what was true and what wasn't from his mind. They had moved from city to city, roaming as they attempted to put their relationship back together. However, as I could see from Jasper's memories, the vision had had a lasting effect on Alice. Her trust in him was in tatters and although he hadn't done anything she couldn't help but hold him responsible for the future that was still very prominent in her visions. In the end she'd just disappeared, leaving him with nothing but a note which he showed the family.

 _I can't take the visions anymore. Tell everyone I'm sorry, I won't be coming home. I love you._

 _A x_

He had searched for days but in the end her scent seemed to have just completely disappeared, leaving no trail for him to follow. As his hunger had increased he fled back to the only place he knew he had a chance of stopping the bloodlust, he came home.

He could feel my resentment of his return and he avoided me completely. I wasted no time in racing to school that still hadn't begun, needing to find Eliza immediately and protect her. No doubt Jasper would be furious with her, I couldn't risk her getting hurt. But the vision still hadn't changed! I needed to do something and fast.

I heard them well before I pulled into school, driving as fast as I could get away with what with so many people around. "No, no, I like Edward as a friend!"

Her voice pierced me and I was momentarily stunned as I swung into a space. Then her thoughts caught up with me. Why did I lie about it?

I couldn't help smirking, it was the first time she had admitted that she liked me to herself. She had been suffocating thoughts of me all weekend and now it had just dawned on her the extent of her feelings for me. I couldn't help the hope that flooded me – my thoughts very similar to those coming from Damien. So I had a shot.

I realised then what he was planning to tell Eliza – about how he thought I was threatening and dangerous and quickly exited the car. I couldn't allow him to put any doubts in Eliza's head right now – not now her entire existence was balancing on my shoulders. I approached swiftly and noiselessly and Damien's fear at my presence was pathetic.

When I was certain he was thrilled into silence I allowed Eliza to distract me from him and he soon left us. I considered the situation furiously as we walked, examining it from every sides. I couldn't let Jasper anywhere near Eliza without me being there, and although the threat was small, there was a chance he could come looking for her whilst she was in the class they shared. I couldn't allow her to go in that classroom where I couldn't protect her properly. It was a long shot she would agree but I had to go for it.

"Hey, what would you think about skipping class today?"

unbelievably she agreed and I couldn't help but silently thank Damien for scrambling her brains with direct questions concerning me. I wanted to bask in the delicious fantasies that spilled from her mind as we paced towards the forest, celebrate how utterly easy it was going to be to make her succumb to me – as completely focused she was on me. But I had to be alert. I kept on lookout for any scent or movement of Jasper. There were none.

Finally we reached the shade of the trees away from any prying eyes and I turned to face her. Her heart raced, pumping the mouth watering scent of her blood around her body and I swallowed the venom that seeped in my mouth. Jasper had interrupted my hunting and I was hungrier than I should be if I wanted to be this close to Eliza.

But her flushed frame did nothing but excite the urge in me to cross the invisible wall between us and I inevitably stepped closer to her – managing to pause with about a foot between us. I could see her pulse in her neck, fluttering manically, her mind spinning out of control as she looked up into my face. "So you told Damien that you only liked me as a friend?"

Her expression was delightful as the flush spread across her cheeks, leaving splotches of bright pink behind her freckles. It was so adorable I couldn't help myself from pushing her further, I needed to make her mine, I wouldn't allow Jasper to have her. "Why did you lie?" I breathed as I leant into her, clenching my jaw as I resisted the urge to bury my teeth into her neck.

To my surprise it was like an alarm went off in her head and she staggered a few paces away from me, jumping as her back hit a tree. "What?" So that was what her scared expression looked like. Her eyes flashed, her lips parting slightly as she gasped. So beautiful. I approached her again, slower this time – as beautiful as she was, I didn't want her to be frightened of me. Although she could do with a lesson in leading people on.

Adrenaline mixed in with the scent of her blood, making in sing even sweeter at the back of my throat. God I wanted her. "H-how do you know it was a lie?" as always her words caught me off guard, she said the exact opposite to what I was expecting. Everything about her screamed that she wanted me, I could smell it on her, it was beckoning to me, urging me on. And yet here she was attempting to deny it all.

"Was it?"

Her mind didn't even react as absorbed as she was by the growling hunger in my eyes and voice. "Yes." Her words shocked herself and she hung her head, making her even more vulnerable to me. The air crackled between us and I could barely speak through my clenched teeth, struggling desperately as the monster roared inside me. "Good."

She looked back up at me, her eyes filled with awe at the confirmation of my feelings. Then, before either of us knew what she was doing her burning fingers touched my face. I froze, in complete combat with the predator in me. I could feel her fingers quivering where she'd also frozen, surprised at her own forwardness. I paused as I regained control again, I wanted more. I moved myself back within reach of her hand and I could scarcely believe how wonderful her touch felt on my skin. It left a burning imprint, warming wherever she stroked.

Suddenly, without any warning from her thoughts, she reached up, locking her fist in my hair, her scent enveloping me as she pressed herself to me. It was all I could do to keep still, knowing if I moved even an inch I wouldn't be able to control myself from seizing her and doing god knows what.

I could feel the thrumming of her heart against my chest, searing heat all through me, her lips scorching on mine, soft and so tempting.

It was quick as she realized I wasn't responding and she let me go hurriedly, her hands fluttering to her mouth and washing fresh air over my face, clearing her scent slightly. I flung myself away from her as soon as I felt the respite.

"I'm sorry!" her voice was high. What have I done? I've completely screwed everything up. Why did I do that?!

"You need to go back to school." My voice was urgent and she flinched, tears filling her eyes. Don't cry, don't tempt me anymore I silently pleaded with her. She didn't move, she was too flustered, her mind searching for a solution desperately and coming up with a blank.

She wasn't scared? Didn't she feel how absolutely close she had been to death? Of all the things she was worrying about losing me as a friend, scared of hurting me and feeling completely and utterly rejected. So fucking vulnerable, even now it was be as easy as swatting a fly, I could kill her right now. "Go Eliza!"

I expected her to respond like a normal human being, to flee from the horrifying growl of a monster. But she didn't. "Why did you bring me out here?!" She yelled back, her thoughts confusedly trying to put back together the pieces of what had just happened. How I'd given her the go ahead.

Stupid, I was so stupid for thinking I could do this. I was so wrapped up in Jasper's return and knowing I had to speed things along with her that I hadn't even considered that I wouldn't have been able to handle it either. Now look what a mess I had caused.

"I'm sorry, but just go back to school." I fought to keep my voice even and she finally did as she was told. She was furious with me.

The next two days were torturous. Bound to protect her I had no choice but to go to school each day and battle with the desire that flared every time I saw Eliza now. Desire for her voice, thoughts, lips, skin and blood. I had hunted immediately after we'd parted in the woods but after the taste of intimacy she had given me, the monster went wild for her whenever she was near.

This rendered me silent and still as I constantly battled internally and Eliza was completely astounded by my behavior. She soon went from feeling sorry for herself to naturally detesting how unforgivably rude I was being, and decided that I wasn't worth her affections any more. She was right. I was completely undeserving of the adoring look she had had on her face as she kissed me. Whilst she had looked at me like that I had wanted nothing more than to murder her.

True, she was finding it extremely difficult to shift the thought of me from her mind but this did nothing but fuel her anger towards me. She sulked bitterly, accusing me silently of giving her mixed signals and then acting like she was a germ the next minute. It's exactly what I hate about him. She thought.

I was losing her. In the process of trying to protect her I was repelling her and leaving her open to Jasper. The helplessness of the whole situation was driving me insane.

Whilst Jasper showed no signs of even thinking about Eliza as absorbed as he was in his guilt, I knew it was only a matter of time. Jasper had a problem solving outlook, Eliza was a problem he could easily solve.

As I despaired I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Confused I opened it. Alice! This was the first contact any of us had had from her; it must be something important for her to break her dramatic vow of silence so quickly. I accepted the call and held the phone to my ear.

"Edward, I need to see you!" Her voice was high and panicky and I was immediately alert, sitting straighter in the seat of the car where I now spent my lunch times, close enough to keep watch on Eliza.

"Why Alice? Where are you?"

"I'm in Port Angeles. Please Edward, nobody else can know."

I hesitated. I couldn't leave Eliza alone, not now, but I hadn't heard Alice sound so desperate before. "Can't you tell me now?"

"No, I have to show you."

There was a moment of silence as I desperately considered my options. Then she spoke again, as if through gritted teeth. "Don't worry, Jasper isn't going to do anything to Eliza today."

I could hear the loathing in her voice as she said her name and I knew then how much this must really be hurting Alice. I had to go and meet her, if she knew nothing would happen today then as long as I was quick Eliza would be fine in my absence. She'd probably quite like it, I thought sourly. "Where in Port Angeles?"


	15. Chapter 15

_Previously: Jasper returns without Alice and Edward decides it's now or never to make Eliza his. Things don't go to plan as he realises that he can't control himself around her and instead scares her away. He also gets a mysterious phone call from Alice telling him to meet her in Port Angeles._

(Jasper)

The absolute worst had happened. The most terrible thing I could have ever imagined, having the most important thing in the world ripped from me. I felt like my very being had been torn to shreds, I didn't know who I was anymore. All I could see was her face the very last time I had seen it, smiling that sad little smile that haunted her face these days telling me she loved me as I left to go hunt. She had refused to join me that day, saying she didn't feel like it. Although it had bothered me I had thought she wanted some time alone to think about things, life had been turned upside down lately. In my wildest dreams I would have never suspected she was going to leave me.

I didn't accept it at first, instead spent days searching for her, repeating the footsteps we had taken since we left Forks. I thought of nothing else – until I couldn't stop thinking about something else. Blood. It was all around me, and now I had no rock to tether me to my humanity. No Alice to watch me and guide me, to believe in me. I had to abandon my search and return back to the place I least wanted to go if I didn't want to become a murderer again. It had obviously been Alice's intention from her note explaining she wouldn't be going home.

I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to feel everyone's resentment of me and bitter disappointment that I was the one that had returned. And most of all I didn't want to be anywhere near the creature that had forced this fate upon me. But I had no choice.

I was surprised at the lack of sour feelings towards me when I explained what had happened – oh there had been disappointment and grief, plenty of it. But the only source of hatred in the room was coming from Edward. I guessed that he had been the closest to Alice, they had been real siblings, and I had taken that from him.

I hunted like a good boy and then committed myself to my room to mourn. I couldn't do anything but stare at the room that still smelt of Alice and was filled with all of Alice's things. I wished with all my heart that I could have cried but it was impossible, instead I was rendered to grimacing fiercely in absolute silence.

Carlisle attempted to come in and converse with me; I had lost all awareness of my abilities and had obviously been pouring despair into the house by the bucket loads. He tried to talk about how difficult it must be for me and that he was there for me if I wanted to talk. But I didn't want to, I never wanted to talk again, move again, feel again.

I laid there for a couple of days, but finally I did start to feel again. The more I mulled everything over in my mind, the more prominent the pathetic human that had caused all of this became. Then I did start to feel something again – blistering fury. How had I let something so weak and defenceless stand in the way of me and the woman I loved? Why hadn't I just got rid of her whilst I had the chance?

I thought back to the time just before Alice and I left Forks, when I had stalked her as she walked home. I couldn't fathom how curiosity had won over the predator in me, how I had just let her walk away unharmed. If I had done what I needed to do then, none of this would have happened. True, the Cullen's would be extremely disappointed in me, and I was sure Edward would be particularly pissed off – but I would have still had Alice so none of that would have mattered.

As I pictured Eliza peering through the trees my rage boiled and spilled over – I could still fix this. She needed to die.

As soon as the decision was made I leapt from the window of my room and sprinted towards the place I had last seen her, planning to follow her scent to her house.

Once again it was as easy as following a yellow brick road, her scent was scorched into my mind, there was no way I could forget it. However, another smell hit me before I reached the source of my hunting, one so familiar that it stopped me in my tracks. Edward's scent was everywhere – all around the house. It was strong, as if he had passed this way many times like it was a regular haunt. Once again my resolve shook as pieces of the puzzle started to come together in my mind, Edward's bitterness at my return hadn't been because of Alice at all – it had been because of Eliza. Because he knew what a threat I was to her. And if Edward, the one who was so cool towards everything and everyone, was concerned enough about that to stand guard outside a human's house then that only meant one thing. He was in love with her.

The fact bowled me over and I stretched out a hand to the nearest tree to support myself. I was so confused. I was furious that this pathetic human had taken over the importance of Alice in Edward's mind – I bet he had even been wishing we wouldn't return at all. But I was also hesitant to destroy something that obviously meant so much to Edward, it wasn't like this happened often for him.

I inhaled deeply, gathering the scents around me deep into my lungs. One thing was certain – he wasn't here now. These were just traces of his scent, they were nowhere near as strong as the pulsing blood of Eliza who was now so close by.

Still conflicted, I approached slowly, all senses alert and tingling. I could hear Eliza moving around in her house, she was alone and she was irritated. Her movements were hectic, her footsteps heavy as she paced around. Why was she so annoyed?

I was now at the edge of her back garden, hidden in the shade of the trees, watching the back window of her house carefully. She never came into view and I had no idea how to advance. The rage I had felt still smouldered inside me but Edward's scent had distracted me completely. It was there I faltered when I heard the front door of Eliza's house slam and footsteps come crunching round the side of the house – right towards me.


	16. Chapter 16

_Previously: Jasper has returned and is devastated without Alice. He decides once again to put an end to Eliza's life and heads over to her house to kill her._

(Eliza)

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the memory of my lips against Edward's out of my mind. They had been so cold – like blocks of ice, and yet soft against my own, they had left an imprint there for hours afterwards. Even now, days later, I felt like hitting my head off a wall in embarrassment whenever the image sizzled behind my eyes.

How could I have been so stupid to think someone as enigmatic, beautiful and bizarre as Edward would really be interested in someone like me? All that time puzzling about whether he liked me or not after he dropped me, picked me up and dropped me again had been a complete waste of time. I was exactly what I had suspected I was to him – a play thing to pass time. And then I'd overstepped the line.

But I couldn't even fully blame myself and my shame quickly turned to a deep puce rage as I thought of all of the signals Edward had been giving me – like he had wanted me to cross the line just so he could crush my ego. And now it was almost like he was punishing me for my offence; the absolute nerve of that boy!

I had been attempting to avoid both him and the memory of the event for the past few days, yet it snuck up on me when I was least expecting it, like when I was watching a film just a few minutes ago. Mum wasn't home from work yet so there was no one to distract me and I had temporarily abandoned writing as all of my words revolved around him. I dug my nails into my palms as I stalked the house, sighing and stamping my feet. Opening cupboards, the fridge, pouring a glass of water and taking a sip before tipping it away.

As Edward's hard face and voice telling me to go back to school refused to shift from my mind I gave up and stalked from the house – not really knowing where to go. I paced into the backyard, enjoying the cool drizzle from the grey sky on my face; it was refreshing.

I took a deep breath, imagining the air blowing away all the cobwebs that contained thoughts of Edward and cleansing me. I closed my eyes and focused only on my breathing, using the meditation technique I had picked up from yoga classes from when I was back in England. As I relaxed I loosened my fingers from the tight fist they were curled into and raised my face up to the sky, feeling each individual droplet of water fall onto my skin. It was then that I heard something; it wasn't like a physical noise, in fact it had been almost noiseless. It was more like the air itself moving, an extremely faint whooshing that I wouldn't have picked up on if I hadn't been stood so still and silent.

My eyes flickered open as I searched for the source of the noise – there was nothing. The leaves of the trees that marked the border between my back garden and the forest shook in the breeze invitingly and I took a step towards them before biting my lip. It wasn't a good idea for a girl to go wandering in the woods alone when no one knew where she was, but I was so desperate for a distraction that it filled me with a new sense of daring and I walked slowly towards the trees.

The feeling of adventure was familiar and warm inside me, it reminded me of when I had pretended I was an explorer or some kind of princess setting out into a world of fantasy and make believe as a child. It was easy to slip back into that frame of mind, to imagine that the sound I had felt rather than heard was someone I had to follow and it was with extra care that I stepped over that invisible line that separated the real world from my world.

I moved quietly through the trees, examining the gloom with new fervor as I searched for something to spike my interest. My heart was racing as I knew what I was doing was against all common sense, yet I pushed myself forward, enjoying the excitement that pulsed through my veins. I began to softly sing under my breath to attempt to soothe my nerves, my voice ringing unnaturally loud in the silent woods where the only sound was the wind whipping through the trees and water dripping from leaf to leaf.

So when the unmistakable noise of leaves and twigs underfoot crackled to my left my heart shot up into my throat, strangling my voice which squeaked out the line I had been singing and I swung sharply to glare at whatever it was that was approaching me. This had been a stupid idea, why had I thought this was a good idea?!

My heart pummelled my chest and an immediate cold sweat broke out all over my body as I froze, trying to see further and further into the gloom of the trees. My skin prickled as if I could feel eyes burning into me but I couldn't move, I just heightened all my senses, if I couldn't see them maybe I could hear them.

"What are you doing?"

The voice split the still air in half and I jolted away from it, a strange gasping cry escaping my mouth as I stumbled backwards.

He suddenly slipped into view, as if he'd been there all along and had just swept an invisibility cloak from around his shoulders. Once again my whole insides shook at his sudden appearance and I gasped again, gripping at the tree I had staggered into. "J-Jasper!" I croaked.

He looked the same as before, livid and glorious, lighting up the forest around him like the sun. It almost hurt my eyes to look at him. His eyes were hooded beneath sharply angled eyebrows that were furrowed into a deep frown, his jaw a sharp clenched square. He wore nothing but jeans and t-shirt despite the weather and he glistened with the dampness he had collected from the trees. It was better than anything I could have imagined I would find on my fantasy search. "Jesus, you frightened me!" I clutched my throat as the relief swelled through me.

He didn't answer just continued to glower at me. Suddenly I was aware that the danger hadn't passed at all, that the way Jasper held himself and looked at me wasn't normal, that I should in fact be thinking about getting away from him.

As soon as this occurred to me and the prickling fear began to spread through my arms again, it was washed away with a drowsy sense of calm. It was bizarre, and my mind screamed at me to panic yet my body wouldn't react. It was as if I was sat safely in my room surrounded by my belongings, and yet here I was in the middle of the woods face to face with a boy that looked worryingly murderous.

"Jasper?" I couldn't think of what to say, my whole insides were in turmoil. As my mind told me that this wasn't normal my body reassured me that everything was fine, I couldn't grasp my predicament enough to put any kind of sentence together.

"What are you doing out here?"

I was getting a strong sense of déjà vu, everything about this situation was a repeat of the last time we had met, right down to the inexplicable rage in Jasper's voice.

"My house is just there – I was walking… what are you doing here?" I spluttered, still unable to move from clinging onto the tree. I was worried my legs would give way if I let go.

He didn't answer, just tilted his head slightly to one side as if to observe me better from a different angle. The silence was heavy and I chewed nervously at my lip, not able to shift the fog of calm that laid across my mind. "Erm, how is your aunt and uncle?"

"What?" His voice was cutting and I flinched.

"In Alaska…?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Edward said you were visiting your aunt and uncle in Alaska."

Silence again. "…Did he?"

I was lost, completely at sea. I didn't know what to say, feel or do. I knew the calm was absolutely misplaced yet it refused to budge and until it did I was unable to figure out what to do next. Jasper's answer was so unnerving and yet of course I couldn't even manage that, instead the silence just settled like dust between us as we scrutinised each other.

Finally he moved, crossing the large space between us so we were stood a couple of feet apart. As he approached I tried to brace myself, dragging my hands away from the tree and attempting to look casual. The panic battled against the calm inside me and lost, instead I almost wanted him to get closer, his beauty really was astounding. It was less polished than Edward's beauty, more wild – dangerous.

"So you and Edward." His voice was still rigid but it was less sharp than before, inviting me to relax. Like I had a choice.

Still at the mention of Edward, particularly put in the same sentence as myself couldn't help but trigger the extreme crawling embarrassment that ultimately swarmed the calm. Jasper seemed to know something had happened between us two and I wondered what on earth Edward could have said to him, probably laughed at how ridiculous I had been to assume he would want anything more than company from me.

Jasper raised a single eyebrow, breaking the furious mold his face had been set in as if he could sense my change in emotions. "There is no me and Edward." My voice was high and defensive and I hated the stunning smirk that rippled across Jasper's face.

"Really." His questions sounded like assumptions and it was obvious he didn't believe me. I tried to arrange my features into a more confident expression, I wouldn't show Jasper that Edward had got the best of me just so they could go and have a laugh at my expense.

"Yes really." As my mind cleared the calm shroud, my voice and limbs gained more strength. My legs no longer felt like they were going to buckle beneath me and it was my turn for my voice to be cutting.

"What could have happened to make you sound so upset?"

I was momentarily shocked by the forwardness of his question. "I-I'm not upset." He could clearly see through everything I was saying and it was making me more flustered by the moment. He didn't reply, just watched me as closely as ever. "So what are you doing here?" I tired to distract him from the subject of me and Edward, I didn't like how easily he could read me.

"Walking." The smirk was back, his voice secretive and I frowned. "You looked like you were looking for something."

"Were you watching me?" I tried to joke, but my voice quivered and gave me away again. I could feel my cheeks growing hot, I felt completely transparent around him.

"For a while." The blasé reply shocked me and I blinked at him, trying to judge whether he was joking or not. His face hadn't moved from that dazzling but mocking half smile and it was impossible to tell.

"Oh."

He suddenly exhaled long and loud, his shoulders that had been so tense since he had appeared relaxing and the smirk finally swiping off his face to be replaced with a weary look, his eyes never leaving me as he observed me thoughtfully. It was as if he had just decided something and wasn't overly sure that it was the right decision.


	17. Chapter 17

_Previously: Eliza has run in with a furious Jasper in the woods who manipulates her emotions to make her useless against him._

(Jasper)

Once again I couldn't follow through with my plan to remove Eliza from the scene. Her natural behaviour was so unnatural that it fascinating and boggled my mind. It was clear how she had managed to sway the impenetrable Edward. As she had picked her way through the trees she had been filled with such feelings of excitement and anticipation, I wished I possessed Edward's abilities and could see what was going through her mind. It was obvious to me why he had picked her to protect, she was unlike any human I had seen before.

True I didn't spend too much time around humans, but us vampires didn't behave all that differently from them – but I had never come across this behaviour in either species. It was like she was seeing something completely different to me, as if she were on a different planet. I also couldn't shake the feeling that I was invading on something intensely private – she never felt this unguarded whenever I had seen her before.

Once again I was angry that she was making this so easy for me – after watching her meditate in the garden I had made up my mind to let her live, for Edward. However, it had been like she'd followed me when I began to move back home, coming after me in the trees. I had watched her for a little while longer, trying to convince myself that I would leave any minute but I couldn't help myself – I wanted to know what she was doing, what she was thinking. So I had made myself visible to her.

I hadn't forgiven her, not by a long shot, And my tone and words were malicious as we spoke, enjoying the tumult of emotions I was causing inside her and then masochistically exerting my power on her, wiping away all control she had of her own feelings and replacing them with an unshiftable calm. At least that was what I thought.

At the mention of Edward's name, skin scrawling embarrassment completely shook my calming influence from her body and she gained control of her feelings immediately. I was surprised when fear didn't come trickling back as I continued to wind her up and finally I realised that once again I couldn't bring myself to kill her. And I couldn't kid myself into thinking that it was only for Edward's sake either.

I sighed, exhaling all the air in my lungs slowly as I released all of my coiled muscles and letting go of the white hot fury I felt for the girl. I knew I couldn't blame all of this on her; she hadn't actually done anything wrong.

"I'm sorry, I must have frightened you. I was just walking and I heard someone singing so wanted to come and check it out. You don't normally get people wandering around in these woods."

She was blushing, her embarrassment at my admittance of watching her growing rapidly. Like I had thought, I had been intruding on a private moment.

"Oh god, you caught me!" She laughed nervously and I attempted to smile back, but it felt strange on my face that hadn't broken out of it's grimace for the past few days. "Are you okay?"

The question was unexpected and I tasted her genuine concern, obviously my smile hadn't been very convincing at all. I didn't know how to reply, I was the opposite of okay and I was sure any attempt to lie would be seen through immediately – especially by Eliza who seemed so perceptive.

"I'll live."

"Walking helps clear your head doesn't it?" She was smiling gently at me, there was no sign of fear in her eyes. I realised that she thought I had been out walking to help cheer myself up, and I wondered if that had been the aim of her wandering too.

"Is that why you're here?" She was uncomfortable at my prying and she shrugged casually.

"I guess it is. It feels like a different world out here."

"How so?"

"Don't you think so? It's like you could stay out here and never go back to reality." She was starting to feel a little embarrassed again and I could see this form of escapism was something she didn't normally share with people.

"You don't like reality?" Now I really was prying and she wrapped her small arms around herself as if to protect her secrets – but I really wanted to know. I wondered if she was this private around Edward and I envied how he would be able to look into her mind and see exactly what it was she was sheltering herself from.

"Reality's fine…" She smiled awkwardly, shying away from answering. "What is it with you Cullen's and questioning me?"

That answered my inward question, she obviously avoided Edward's questions too and it sounded like he didn't hesitate to dig deeper until he got the answers he wanted either vocally or mentally. I chuckled and shrugged. "You're interesting."

My words brought some kind of wall down in her emotions, some sort of numbing denial, as if she were forcing herself not to feel anything. Her outward appearance didn't change at all, in fact she just laughed at my words. "You're pretty interesting too." Was her reply and my curiosity was fierce – what had that reaction been about? I had to bite my tongue as she was obviously in no mood for further questions and a sudden shiver wracked her frame.

"You must be cold. Why don't you head back home?"

"I might just go grab a coat – do you want to come with?" The wall of numbness crumbled a little and I could see she was hopeful. Did she want me to join her? I was hesitant, I shouldn't spend any more time than strictly necessary with this girl, I didn't want to encourage the future Alice had seen in any way, but the thought of returning home to the grief Alice had left behind was devastating. At least Eliza was distracting from that.

"Sure."

I watched her back as we traipsed back through the trees to her garden; we hadn't come far from it. She was happy that I had accepted her offer – too happy, it made me feel slightly sickened at how predictable this all was from here. But I wasn't going to let anything happen between me and this girl; I hadn't lied, she was very interesting, but she was nothing but a distraction from the pain – almost like a science experiment, tempting fate. I was strong enough to keep the future at bay.

A strong gust of wind lifted her long dark hair off her back and it stretched towards me, sending delicious wafts of her scent in my direction. It was strange how I had been so intent on killing her just a few minutes earlier and now the temptation of her blood made me nervous, sure I was strong enough to change the future but was I strong enough to protect her from myself?

I swallowed the venom that pooled in my mouth and once again I debated whether this was the right decision. It was easy enough to deny the urge out here in the fresh air, but once we got inside the hot enclosed space of her home where there was no chance of prying eyes and little room for escape who knows how loudly her blood would sing to me?

She glanced over her shoulder at me and caught me staring, her eyes widened before she threw me a grin that expressed half of the happiness that had ballooned inside her. My worries evaporated and I knew that as long as she looked at me like that I wouldn't be able to even consider ending her life. For the first time since Alice left feelings started breaking through the shell of numbness I had cast around me – I wasn't quite sure what they were or what they meant but it was a relief from the depression.


	18. Chapter 18

_Previously: Jasper decides that, once again, he can't kill Eliza! Instead he finds himself accepting an invitation into her house..._

(Eliza)

I was slightly flustered as I ushered Jasper in through the front door of my house – relieved that mum hadn't arrived back home yet so she could interrogate us. It was surreal seeing someone as gorgeous as him standing in my hallway, watching me with that half smile that he seemed to favour. Much like Edward, his eyes never left me as I bustled around the house offering him tea and apologising for the state I had left the house in.

"I'm okay for a drink but you should have one. And get changed out of those wet clothes."

I shot him a look, searching for any signs of double meanings in his words. He was leant against the stair banister, arms folded, his eyes glancing over my damp shirt that was clinging to my body in a slightly inappropriate manner. I blushed, I couldn't read him, just like I couldn't read Edward and I swung myself up the stairs two by two, shouting over my shoulder that I would be two seconds.

Once safely in my room I allowed myself a short freak out as I stared at myself in the mirror. It was true, I was cold, and the wet material on my skin was making that particularly obvious. "Uuuuuurgh!" I moaned, my heart pelting as I pictured Jaspers eyes sweeping over my body in the hallway, his rich voice as he suggested I change. "Nice one Eliza." I muttered angrily to myself as I ripped the shirt over my head and searched desperately in my messy drawers for an alternative. I settled for a simple scoop neck, longs sleeved black top and I turned back to the mirror. "Calm down." I ordered the girl in the mirror and I fluffed up my damp hair, trying to force the pink splotches on my cheeks to die down.

When I was eventually prepared I flew from my room and back down the stairs. Jasper was no longer in the hallway.

"I'm in here." He drawled from the kitchen and my attempt at being calm was immediately scattered as I stepped quickly after the voice. He was stood at the counter, stirring a mug of tea. He glanced up as I entered, his eyes appraising my new attire, the half smile back on his face. "Better?"

"Much better." I grinned shakily back, trying not to expose how jittery my insides felt. He looked so gloriously out of place in my ordinary cluttered kitchen, it almost hurt to look at him. "Is that for me?" I pointed to the cup.

"Yes."

"Thanks! Two sugars please."

I pulled out a chair from the rickety kitchen table and plonked down, trying to appear as casual as possible.

"Yes ma'am."

I laughed and shamelessly stared as he continued to make my tea. He was so elegant as he moved around the kitchen, easily finding the sugar bowl and the fridge before turning to me with that crooked smile and placing the mug gently before me. He pulled out the chair opposite and slid into it smoothly, his eyes not leaving mine.

"You make a good brew dear." I joked, trying to keep the atmosphere light, hoping he wouldn't pick up on my nerves. He chuckled.

"Why thank you. I try."

I laughed again and then we fell silent as I slurped but he looked completely at ease, leaning back in his chair, one ankle propped up on his knee as he watched me drink.

"Soo…" I hesitated. I knew how much Edward hated being asked anything slightly personal, and I thought back to how Jasper had avoided my questions earlier but I decided to at least give it a go. "Where have you and Alice been lately?"

A shadow crossed his face, the half smile faltering and his expression suddenly becoming serious. I immediately regretted asking and began to take back my question when he cut me off.

"Actually, Alice left me."

My mouth dropped open and I examined him. He looked completely deadpan, his voice had been clear and smooth and yet I could see in his eyes how much the words had hurt him to say. I couldn't believe that he had just come out and told me like that, he had completely caught me by surprise.

I managed to quickly gather myself, although my mind raced as to what would be the appropriate way to respond to such a confession. "I'm so –"

"It's fine."

"Do you know why?"

"I have a few ideas." He seemed to be gaging my reaction, his words careful as he examined me. I bit my lip, feeling extremely awkward.

"D- Do you want to talk about it?" I struggled to hold his gaze, wanting to appear reliable and open to the conversation if he needed to have it, although I was sure he wouldn't want to talk about it with me.

"No." his tone was polite and although I had been expecting it the answer was so curt it still stung a little. I blinked and finally dropped his gaze, staring down into my tea.

"Okay. Just… don't linger on it… if you can." I mumbled. Jasper's behavior when he first emerged in the woods suddenly made sense, I had intruded on his mourning. He had looked so enraged, and the look in his eyes a moment ago had been so helplessly sad that I longed to do something to make that pain disappear. It wasn't right that someone as wonderful as him should be upset. I didn't know him that well but there was something about him that drew me towards him, that had made me want to spend more time with him than we had shared in the woods, hence inviting him back with me. When I wasn't completely caught up about how stunning he was, I felt at ease around him.

"I'll try. Please don't worry about me."

I glanced up at him, he looked desperately sad and I realised that me feeling sorry for him was not going to help him in the slightest, what he needed was a distraction not a reminder. "Okay. Do you want to go for walk again?" I tried to keep my tone light. He glanced at the window.

"It's not great weather for a walk."

"When did that ever stop you?"

I was relieved at the hint of a smile on his face when he turned back to me. "I've had enough for one day. Why did you get so upset about Edward earlier?"

His sudden change in conversation and the springing of Edward's name on me made my head spin and I felt my ears heat up as the blush threatened to spread. His growling laugh threw me off balance even more.

I scowled at him, attempting to cover up my reaction to his name. "I did not get upset!"

"You're getting upset again." he teased and I buried my face in my hands, shaking my head forcefully.

"No I'm not!" I shrieked, knowing it was helpless so decided I may as well make a joke out of it.

"If you say so." He chuckled, and despite my horror I was relieved to see misery in his eyes had gone as I peered through my fingers at him.

"Has he said something to you?"

"Not at all."

"Nothing?" I pressed, lowering my hands and Jasper raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Why? Is there something to tell?"

I considered him. He had told me something private so I supposed I could return the favor, despite how horrifying it was. "Actually…" I traced the rim of my mug with my fingertip, avoiding his eyes. He sat forward, resting his chin in his palm, leaning his elbows on the table. "Actually I kissed him." I said in a rush, my eyes flickering up to catch his reaction.

His eyes flashed but his expression didn't change at all. "Really?" He said slowly, his eyes holding mine. I couldn't read his expression, I knew the news must have taken him by surprise but he was being extremely careful not to show me anything. "How did that go?"

"Badly." My heart raced as I stared at him, wishing I could read his thoughts and see what he thought about the whole thing. "He just stood there and then told me to go back to school."

"Go back to school?"

I could feel the urge to tell someone build up inside me and it finally spilled over, it was driving me crazy keeping this quiet and letting it run riot in my head. "See, he asked me to skip class with him and he took me to the woods just behind school. Then he started acting like he was going to kiss me, saying that he knew I liked him and that it was a good thing, so I don't get why he acted like I'd killed someone when I… And then he's just been ignoring me ever since!" My words had stumbled over each other in their rush to get out, and I had watched him the whole time – his expression hadn't changed once. When I was finished he finally moved, letting out a low long breath and leaning back into his chair again.

"You must understand something about Edward."

'What?" I asked eagerly, desperate for someone to shed some light on this situation.

"He's an idiot."

I paused for a second and then snorted in a most unattractive way but I couldn't resist; Jasper's face was the perfect picture of seriousness, only his eyes gleaming humorously. Also 'idiot' wasn't really a term I could partner well with Edward in my mind, 'pretentious' or 'obnoxious' fit better. I told Jasper so and he joined me in my grinning mischievously. "No really, he's so absorbed in playing the moody teenager that it gets in the way of the things he really wants."

I laughed, it was nice to hear the things I had been thinking from someone else, especially when Jasper actually knew Edward a lot better than me. "Are you trying to say you think that he actually wants me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I know he wants you." Jasper became serious again, his eyes staring intensely into mine. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my smile wavering as an undercurrent of electricity in Jasper's words set my heart racing. I pushed away my reaction to his words, so what if Jasper looked extremely hot when he talked about wanting me? Even if was Edward doing the wanting and not Jasper himself.

I sighed and pushed myself up from my chair, taking my mug to the sink. "Well, unfortunately I'm not really into the whole moody teenager thing." Most of the time, I added silently.

"Don't worry, he'll come around. He's probably beating himself up about it right now."

I laughed sarcastically. "Sure. And what do I do until that happens?"

"That's up to you."

When I turned back around Jasper's eyes were on me, all signs of joking disappeared from his face leaving it brooding and smoldering. I suddenly didn't want to talk about Edward anymore, I couldn't picture him whilst Jasper was looking at me like that.

The silence stretched for longer than usual, and I was sure he would be able to hear my heart hammering in my chest. Eventually he stood up fluidly and gave me a gorgeous half smile. "Well, I best be getting home anyway."

I nodded mechanically feeling distinctly disappointed. I was surprised by how much I had enjoyed his company and I wanted to get to know him better. But I supposed it was getting late, mum would be home any time soon. "Okay, will you be at school tomorrow?" I asked as I walked him to the door.

"Bright and early." He brushed past me, opening the front door before I could reach it. I shivered from his touch – he was so cold, just like Edward had been. Then he was stood outside in the rain, smiling in at me with that crooked smile and my heart jumped into action again.

"I'll see you then." I grinned at the prospect and he tilted his head, saluted me in farewell, and set off at a light jog back around to the forest.


	19. Chapter 19

_Previously: Edward goes to Port Angeles to meet Alice, and in his absence Jasper hunts Eliza only to find that, once again, he can't kill her. Instead he finds himself finding relief from his misery in her company._

(Edward)

I couldn't believe it. I'd been played. Alice had me playing right into her hands as she manipulated my actions like I was nothing more than a pawn in her sick game of chess. I had travelled to Port Angeles, arriving at our meeting point in the warehouse yards well ahead of schedule. I waited in the car, watching the digits of the clock tick closer to the arranged time, anxiously picturing what Eliza would be doing right now. She would be in her final class of school, seated with Damien and Nick getting ready to leave. I watched until they ticked right past and still Alice didn't show.

I frowned, flipping my phone out of my pocket and dialling her number – it went straight to voicemail. "Dammit Alice." I growled, swinging open the door and stepping out into the dreary afternoon.

It was faint but I could smell her, somewhere close. I locked the car and sprinted after the trail her scent had left behind – what the hell was she playing at? I didn't have time for games.

In disbelief I followed the ever-growing scent right out of the small town and into the wooded mountain range that surrounded Port Angeles. I began to get more and more worried the further from town I got; it wasn't like Alice not to follow the plan.

The weather got worse as the trail got more ridiculous, looping randomly through the trees, up and down hills and eventually curving back on itself. There was no signs of her hunting along the way, although I came across plenty of wildlife on her path. I just couldn't fathom what her purpose was.

It was almost 2 hours later when my hunting had become gradually more frantic did the scent take a sharp turn up the steepest cliff yet, fresher than the rest of the trail I had been following.

I scrambled easily up the rocks and was at the top within minutes. I heard her before I saw her. She was stood at the very edge, watching me, waiting for me. Her face was crumpled and pleading as she called "I'm so sorry Edward."

The vision was crystal clear in her mind and hit me like a ton of bricks. The weather and light was identical to that which we stood in now, and the trees were splattered with vivid spots of red that trickled down to the wet grass where they embraced. Her skin, whiter even than his, where she was draped loosely over his chest and lap. Her head was hanging uselessly on it's neck and bent backwards unnaturally, and her hair was a dark drape to the ground as he guzzled from her exposed cold shoulder. She was completely drained and he released his arms that cradled her tenderly. She flopped lifelessly to the floor, her back bending and arms sprawling at a strange angle, her eyes wide, staring and dead. Eliza.

My roar ripped through the air as blistering rage whipped through me and Alice whimpered. "It was the only way that Jasper and I…" she began in a wail but I didn't want to hear it, I felt sick at the mixture of betrayal and devastation at my absolute failure to protect her.

My head was full of memories of Eliza: her smile, her lips on mine, her biting scorn and dancing mind all raced round and round my head and I instinctively lunged for Alice. The split second my muscles responded to the action, Alice had danced lithely out of my reach, her face still agonised. "Edward please! I can't lose him!"

I ignored her and charged again, already realising it was hopeless. Nobody could win against Alice, she knew exactly what I was going to do even before I did. But still, I couldn't stop. I wanted to rip and tear, cause the same pain to her that was crashing through me.

"Jasper and I have been together for decades! I know you liked her Edward but I just couldn't justify…"

"You have never cared about anybody but yourself!" I screamed at her as I chased her from rock to rock, my rage increasing with each empty grasp of air as I clawed for her.

"I care about Jasper more than anything!" she screeched back, her remorse warping into anger at my accusations.

Finally I gave up, knowing it was useless to continue like this. I glared at her and she stared obstinately back, her jaw set stubbornly.

"You've made him a murderer." I muttered coldly, and before she could respond I spun on my heel and pelted as fast as I could back down towards Port Angeles.

I reached the car within 15 minutes and swung onto the main road before racing at top speed back to Forks, my knuckles white as I clutched the steering wheel so tightly I could feel the plastic moulding to my fingers. I didn't care who saw, even though I knew I would be too late – the sky was already growing darker than it had been in the vision, I had to believe that I could somehow change the future. And if I couldn't …

"FUCK!" I bellowed as I swerved sharply around a car that looked almost stationary as I passed it, picturing coming face to face with Jasper as he clung onto her lifeless body. I wanted to rip his head from his shoulders, to make him and Alice suffer with me. I hated him for what he had done, I hated him! And yet… he was my brother, and she was my sister. And Eliza? Eliza was a girl I had known for less than a month. And yet I didn't want to imagine life moving forward without her presence, the insufferable blank stretching of time that went on and on forever was unbearable without her. It was colourless and monotone.

I reached Forks in half an hour, a new record, and pulled over just before I reached Eliza's house, my brakes screeching and the smell of burning rubber biting in my nose. I jogged to the trees before breaking into a sprint towards her house. Then I heard it, as familiar as my own voice to me – Eliza's thoughts. I skidded to a halt, my body trembling as I drank the sound desperately, clinging onto every word and image she was summoning.

How was this possible? I had seen the vision, I had done everything Alice had wanted me to do to make it a possibility, I had seen how certain she had been in its truth. And yet…

 _What reason could Alice possibly have for leaving Jasper?_ Eliza's change in thoughts immediately brought me back to the present.

What?

I tuned back in to her thoughts with fresh fervour, searching manically through her head whilst moving quickly to the spot where I knew I would be able to see her bedroom window and possibly spy her there. Jasper was printed in her mind, the memory clear and crystalized in her thoughts, taking on that warm tender film that was usually reserved for me. I couldn't hold back the growl that rumbled in my throat as I realised he had been seated at the table in her kitchen, looking unbelievably calm, smiling casually as he spoke.

He hadn't worn that expression since he had returned, and for a while before him and Alice had left together. Confusion and panic bubbled together, swimming through my veins and rendering me completely unable to move or think. I couldn't come up with an explanation, how things could possibly have ended up like this from the vision I had witnessed not even an hour ago?

I could see that the memory was fresh in Eliza's mind, it had happened very recently and I finally relaxed enough to taste the air around me. Sure enough Jasper's scent was new, all around me. I realised I must have been holding my breath this whole time to miss it.

The smell ripped me from my trance and I pounced into action, making a swift sweep of the forest surrounding her house. He wasn't here anymore, I could follow the fresh trail leading away from the house, back in the direction of the highway towards home.

I lingered by her window again, peering up, willing her to step in front of it. But she didn't, I could see from her mind she was curled on her bed, the music playing low whilst she simply thought about what had happened. This was the position she had often adopted when her mind was caught up on me – she had been doing it more and more recently. And now Jasper had simply stepped into her life, removing me from her thoughts as easily as wiping a whiteboard.

Jealousy cracked like a whip through me and I buckled where I stood, the white fury back again. How dare he? How did he think he had any right to just come into her life like that? Why did he think it was his decision if she lived or died? And how on earth did he justify talking to her so causally after he had so definitively decided that he was going to kill her? Because that was the only reason for Alice's visions was his decisions. He knew fully what the consequences of such blasé actions would be, had he completely dismissed Alice and I? I couldn't stand such thoughtless, ignorant and sporadic behaviour, I had to put a stop to this. One way or another.


	20. Chapter 20

_Previously: Alice fools Edward into abandoning his watch on Eliza as she has a vision of Jasper murdering her. Edward realises too late and returns back to Eliza's house only to find her alive and well, her mind filled with thoughts of Jasper who had been in her house only minutes before! Jealousy rages in Edward and he vows to put a stop to whatever was going on with Jasper and Eliza immediately..._

 _(Jasper)_

The moment I was out of range of the little bubble of atmosphere Eliza cast around herself, the prospect of returning home weighed heavy on my chest. However it was impossible for me to slip back into the melancholic brooding that I had been living in since Alice had left. I couldn't remember how it felt well enough to cast the feeling around me and instead I was left feeling empty and dreading the gloomy haunt of mine and Alice's room.

I arrived home in 5 minutes, sighing as I observed the tall glass exterior of the house, reminded bitterly of the house that Alice and I had built just a few months ago. I wanted to knock down that house, knock down every reminder of her, wishing I could just forget the face that was scarred in my mind. This surprised me – yesterday I had been clinging onto the memory of her, convinced that she was going to materialise in front of me any moment.

It was as if something had clunked into place inside me when I had admitted to Eliza that she had left me, and now I was accepting the fact that she was gone. It stung painfully inside me, waves of pain and nausea crashing over me one by one over and over again. I couldn't possibly retreat back into the dark room where we had shared our most intimate moments, I couldn't bare the thought.

Instead I followed the sounds of the rest of the family that were congregated in the living room. I stepped through the door and each one was surprised to see me, Esme and Carlisle particularly pleased at my presence as I placed myself wordlessly between them on the sofa.

Rosalie and Emmet were sat cross legged on the floor before the huge wide screen TV, each with consoles in their hands as the racing game they were playing continued without their attention. All conversation froze until I sat down and Rosalie finally broke the silence with a mocking smirk. "Welcome back." Her voice was contrastingly warm as was the way with Rosalie, she was pleased to see me, I could feel it on her.

I inclined my head and returned her smile faintly, she turned back to the game. "Good to see you man, it's about time you came back – Rosalie sucks at gaming!" Emmett grinned conspiringly and I relaxed back into the sofa as Esme patted my hand comfortingly.

"It's nice to have you back, son." Carlisle murmured warmly and I was filled with a remarkable sense of belonging as nothing but positive emotions filled the snug living room. I allowed myself to bask in the warm feeling that pushed the devastation of Alice's absence to the back of my mind for now. However it didn't last for long.

We all heard Edward's car swing onto the drive. "Look who's graced us with his presence." Rosalie murmured to which Carlisle and Emmett chuckled. It looked like my suspicions were correct and that Edward had been spending an awful lot of time stalking Eliza. I wondered if they knew the reason for his disappearance and worry began niggling at the back of my mind – it wouldn't be long before he realised that I had been there, and I was sure he wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea.

My worry escalated as the waves of fury rolling off Edward hit me a split second before Edward bolted into the room.

I was too shocked to react immediately however when he shot straight to me and yanked me forward by the neck of my shirt, his fist balled tightly in the material. I focused on his face which was taught, his eyes electrifying, his lips pulled back over his bared teeth. "You stay away from her, do you understand?" He spat.

I managed to swallow the instinctive reaction of fighting back and kept my cool as I held his gaze steadily. "What are you talking about?" I knew exactly who he was talking about of course, and although I had expected him to not be too happy with the thought of me being around Eliza, she was well and in one piece so I couldn't quite fathom the depths of his anger that thrilled through me painfully.

Carlisle laid a calming hand on Edward's shoulder, his face appalled at the sudden violence taking place in his home. "Edward, calm down."

Edward shrugged him off impatiently as he ground his teeth. "You know exactly what I'm talking about and you will not go near her again." He shook me aggressively and my patience began to wear thin.

"I didn't realise she was your property." I murmured before slapping his hand away and swiftly standing to my full height so that I towered over him.

"Who are you talking about?" Rosalie's voice called out but both of us ignored her, both attempting to stare the other down. Edward didn't back away, his anger just increased at my retaliation.

"I will not let you hurt her." His voice was menacing and I bristled. Did he really have that little trust in me that he was so absolutely certain that I couldn't control myself? I tried to suffocate the memory of the desire I had felt to kill her, to remove her from the equation but it was too late – I saw Edward's eyes flash with recognition. Before he could make a smarmy comment I spoke.

"I couldn't do that now."

"No you couldn't, because I won't let you near her."

My anger flashed, who did he think he was? "And how do you plan to do that?"

Edward snarled and tensed to lunge at me, I braced myself but Emmett and Carlisle were already there, one at each shoulder holding him back. "Stop this both of you! I don't know what this is about but I will not tolerate fighting. You are brothers!" Carlisle snapped and I felt Edward falter slightly. I could feel that my last comment had particularly irritated him, probably because he didn't have an answer. It wasn't as if his relationship with Eliza was in good enough shape for him to take up the role as personal bodyguard.

We continued to glare at each other and the silence stretched awkwardly in the room before Rosalie's voice rang again. "Who the hell is this girl?"

"I would also very much like to know that." Carlisle said, his voice ringing with authority as his eyes flicked sternly between both of us.

Edward's posture finally relaxed enough for Carlisle to loosen his hold on him. Emmett however kept his grip, his normally jovial face lined and serious.

"She's the reason Alice left us." Edward's voice was hard and I flinched at the mention of Alice's name.

"Edward…" I growled warningly. Panic began to rise in me; I didn't want the family that had just embraced me moments before to know the real reason behind the disappearance of Alice. To see just how much it was my fault. But I knew it was useless, I could feel Edward's triumph at the obvious discomfort he was causing me by exposing me.

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle's voice was sharp and I flinched again, dropping my gaze to the floor. I couldn't look at anyone, it was going to be hard enough feeling their betrayal when he told them.

"Alice had quite a shocking vision concerning Jasper and a girl called Eliza." I could hear the smile in Edward's voice and every cell in my body hated him right then. But I was frozen in place as the force of everyone's shock slammed into me at his words.

"Who the fuck's Eliza?!" Rosalie hissed.

"No way!" Emmett yowled.

"Eliza's a human who moved here this year."

"It's not true is it Jasper? …Jasper?" Emmett's voice was desperate, searching but I could barely find my voice to answer. The shame and guilt was breaking over me anew, even more painful the second time.

"It's true." My voice was faint but it enough. The outcry was simultaneous from everyone but Carlisle who had been silent since Edward had revealed the truth. I couldn't read his emotions through the wall of hurt, disbelief, horror and disgust.

"No!"

"How could you do that?!"

Finally Carlisle spoke. "Now hold on, Jasper hasn't done anything yet. Have you son?" His hand fell heavy and firm on my shoulder, and my surprise jolted me out of my despairing. Was he trying to comfort me? My eyes flickered up to his, wide and questioning. Although tense, his eyes that met mine were still warm. I shook my head, sure that I couldn't speak.

"So what? He's going to isn't he?" Rosalie's voice was cutting and I winced, dropping my gaze again.

"Without a doubt." Edward piped in again and my body trembled once with rage, my hands curling into fists. He was enjoying this. Well I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of spilling any more secrets – I had to come clean now. About everything.

"It was uncertain at first." My voice silenced the buzz of everyone else immediately and I felt all their eyes burning into me. I kept my eyes on the carpet. I savored Edward's surprise at my speaking up. "She had the first vision months ago but hid it from everyone. And then it kept changing. Eliza was with a human, and then she was with Edward."

"What?!" Rosalie shrieked and I heard everyone whip around to stare at Edward instead. He didn't like that I'd told them that, and the small victory fueled me on.

"I was still unaware of the first vision and was confused by how determined Alice was for Edward and Eliza to be together, and surprised that Edward was going for it."

"You've been hitting on a human?!" Emmett's voice was high in disbelief and I couldn't help but feel slightly amused by how easily distracted he was from the main problem. I glanced up and Edward silenced him with a single look. "Things didn't go to plan and for some reason the visions of us together returned but stronger. Alice finally told me about them and I tried to kill Eliza." There was a sharp intake of breath from both Carlisle and Esme and I hurried on. "But I couldn't do it…"

"Why not?" Rosalie interrupted, she clearly agreed that this would have been the logical thing to do. I shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" She sneered, mocking my pathetic excuse at fixing things. She was right, I deserved all of this. In fact the more I spoke and felt everyone's disgust and disbelief increase it felt like justice. I shook my head slowly and continued.

"No, I couldn't see her as threat. I didn't believe it. And so we decided to leave for as long as necessary until the vision finally changed. We'd wait until Eliza died if we had to. At least that was what I thought the plan was – I had completely misjudged the toll it was taking on Alice. I could feel that her trust in me was gone, she didn't know how to feel around me anymore and each day the visions got stronger and hurt her more and more. But I didn't think she'd…" My voice broke off and Carlisle's hand squeezed my shoulder supportively, still resting firmly there.

Rosalie however snorted, obviously not sympathetic in the slightest. I didn't blame her. I had been unobservant and unappreciative of how much I was hurting Alice, and in the end I had got my comeuppance. "So with Alice gone you've got the go ahead to sneak around with some human slut?" She spat and I couldn't control the anger that whipped through me. It was bizarre, I was willing to take whatever insult Rosalie threw at me, but as soon as she started on Eliza my defence mechanisms kicked in with a growl. My eyes shot up to hers and a very faint hiss escaped my gritted teeth – faint, but enough for everyone to react.

Emmett bristled and half stepped in front of Rosalie, his eyes clouding over; Carlisle's hand tightened on my shoulder, Esme cringed away from me fearfully and Rosalie's smirk grew. Before I could retort however, Edward's voice barked through the room.

"Do not call her that Rosalie."

Rosalie's spiteful grin contorted into a scowl. "Oh I almost forgot; the whore seduced you as well."

Carlisle and Esme both murmured Rosalie's name tentatively whilst my hiss built into a snarl simultaneously with Edwards.

"Eliza has done nothing."

"She isn't anything like that!"

Edward's voice and mine rang together through the air and silence met our exclamations.

I could feel Rosalie's anger twisting into upset, betrayal and bitter hatred. "How can you defend her?" Her voice was smaller than before, the scowl etched deeply into her face before she swung on her heel and fled from the house. Emmett hesitated, throwing me a bewildered expression – his emotions were swirling, unable to settle on a conclusion – before he sprinted after Rosalie.

The silence that remained was deafening and Carlisle's hand finally slid from my shoulder. His and Esme's sorrow was palpable, but they were lacking the bitterness that Rosalie and Emmett, to an extent, harbored. I couldn't look at them, and I couldn't stomach the sight of Edward, so I continued to glare after where Rosalie and Emmett had disappeared through the door.

"Rose is just upset, it's a lot to take in." Carlisle's voice was low, but he couldn't quite hide the stunted shock that I could sense ringing in him. I nodded once.

"Why didn't you tell us right away?" Esme cried, crossing the room the take shelter in Carlisle arms. When I glanced over at them, both of their eyes were on me and I was struck again by the lack of hostility in their expressions. They both looked pained but I couldn't tell whether the pain was because of the shocking news or in sympathy of me.

"I was too ashamed." I said softly after a long pause. Esme cringed again and this time I was certain of the sympathy that poured off her.

"You should never feel like you have to hide from us." Carlisle's voice was soft too. I was overwhelmed by the unexpected support I was receiving from them - I had never seen them as my parents unlike my other family members, and I was sure that the feeling was mutual. I was always distant, always a threat to their unshakeable ethically correct lifestyle. Always the disappointment.

Edward began to remove himself from the room when Carlisle turned on him, his voice sharper. "Edward, what you did tonight was extremely unnecessary. I think you owe Jasper an apology."

The air went stale around us and Edward's disbelief was striking.

"You want me to apologise to him? A murdering cheat?" His voice was high and incredulous.

Murdering? But I hadn't killed anyone, not since I had met Alice and became a vegetarian which was more than Edward could say. I frowned, too confused to be angry.

"Jasper is neither of those things." Carlisle retorted before I could.

"Not yet." Edward was seething and suddenly his words made sense. Fresh panic rose in me, swallowing all my senses and I stepped quickly towards him before Carlisle could react and cling onto me.

"You've seen Alice?!" My voice was strangled and my hands rose to ball in his shirt but he smacked them away and darted backwards out of my reach. I tasted a hint of fear in him, I could imagine the fierce look that had distorted my expression – the expression I adopted when I tore vampires apart.

His reaction confirmed my suspicions and I felt my muscles seize up, my voice tearing out of me in a guttural growl. "Where is she? When?"

"She doesn't want to see you." Edward was tensed, preparing himself to fight me.

"Tell me where she is!" I roared before diving across the room, lunging for his throat. He just managed to twist out of my grip and I was vaguely aware of Esme shrieking our names and Carlisle's feeble attempts at holding me back. I shook him off as easily as if he were made of paper and sprang towards Edward again, blocking off the exit that he was heading towards. If he escaped we both knew he could outrun me, but he didn't stand a chance in one on one combat.

He froze as he realised he couldn't run away and through the hatred burning in his face I could see him caving into reason. "She rang me today, said she needed to show me something."

"What did she need?" Carlisle's voice rang but mine boomed above his.

"Where?!" I took a threatening step forward and Edward raised his hands in surrender.

"I met her just outside Port Angeles…"

I didn't wait to hear anymore, that was all I needed. She was so close.


	21. Chapter 21

(Eliza)

Jasper wasn't at school the next day and I was troubled by the disappointment that sank in my stomach as English commenced without him ever showing up. I didn't have long to linger on this though as it soon became clear that Edward had gone a step further in his attempts at completely removing me from his life. As if he had somehow heard Jasper's reassurance that he liked me, he seemed to be making it extremely clear that it was in fact the opposite – that he actually despised me.

Instead of behaving like I didn't exist he instead resorted to glaring at me as soon as I entered the Biology classroom, his hands curled into fists so tightly that his knuckles where white, his whole body tensed as if he wanted nothing more than to get as far away from me as possible.

I was so offended that I couldn't even find the courage to stand up to him, I felt truly intimidated and unsure of what he could do if I did anything to anger him anymore. So instead I sat and boiled in rage, throwing every form of abuse I could imagine at him in my head. Regretting more than ever my rash actions in the woods and aghast that I had ever found someone like him attractive at all.

When the bell rang for lunch I shot up, packing my bag as quickly as possible so I could get out of his presence.

"Eliza." His voice was icy and it chilled me to the core. I had almost forgotten the sound of his voice, but instead of the pleasure that used to pulse through me at the sound it was replaced by fear. I froze, bracing myself for a terrifying rant, unable to turn to meet his eyes. "I know my behavior is disgraceful and I'm truly sorry, but I need you to do something for me." His voice never wavered from that hard tone, it was the worst apology I had ever head.

I turned to him slowly, one eyebrow raised, my eyes wide to express my obvious amazement at his gall to ask for a favor from me right now. It was the first time our eyes had met properly since the incident but I didn't feel a shred of the butterflies that would normally be swooping in my stomach right now, just scorn. His eyes flickered between mine, judging the extent of my clear distaste for him and I watched the muscle in his jaw jump as he considered whether to go on or not.

Curiosity was the only thing that stopped me from leaving the room before he could request whatever it was, I was desperate to hear what was so important to break the pact of silence he had had for the past few days.

"I need you to stay away from Jasper." His lips barely moved and my mouth popped open. Was this boy insane? What right did he think he had to tell me who I could and couldn't associate with? Maybe if he hadn't treated me like dirt I would have respected the urgency of his warning a little more, but as it stood anything he told me not to do right now made me want to do it even more. Especially if what he wanted me to do was stay away from Jasper.

I laughed a humorless choked laugh, shaking my head in disbelief before I turned to make my way out of the classroom. He didn't even deserve an answer.

"Listen to me!" He hissed, his frozen hand caught my arm and I jumped out of his reach instinctively, spinning to face him again.

'Why should I?!" I copied his tone, matching his anger in my returning hiss.

He blinked, his dark expression clearing for just a second as my fury seemed to take him by surprise. But then he recovered and gripped his hands back into fists.

"For your own safety. Jasper is…"

But I couldn't listen to anymore. Since he had started talking a strange ringing had begun in my ears, only increasing in volume the more his words irritated me. It was like all of the anger I had been sitting on since his mortifying rejection was bubbling up, threatening to spill over. Suddenly I couldn't hold it back anymore, my mind went blank, dismissing any consequences my actions might have and instead plunging headfirst into all of the things I had been wanting to say.

"Who do you think you are? You think you can tell me what I can or can't do? You're such a mind fuck! I don't give a shit what you think about Jasper, so you can just carry on staying the hell away from me now."

The words tumbled out of my mouth in a rush, climbing higher and higher the more upset I got until I was eventually screeching in his expressionless face. Then in a mixture of embarrassment and pure rage I stormed from the room. This time he didn't try to stop me.

I headed straight for the toilet, my face burning a crimson red and panic building like a fire inside me. I shot into a cubicle, locked the door behind me and buried my face in my arms, trying to block out the reality of what I had just done.

I had just screamed abuse at the gorgeous Edward, just as he had begun to talk to me again, in the middle of a classroom that hadn't even emptied yet. No doubt the word would be all around the school by the end of the day. People would want to know what had happened to get me so upset, some might even ask Edward about it. What if they found out it all boiled down the fact that I had tried it on with him and been rejected miserably? If I'd been embarrassed then it was nothing compared to now, knowing everyone else would know.

And what about Edward? Now he really would never want anything to do with me – at least there could have been a possibility he would regret rejecting me before. Now I was just some crazy angry girl that humiliated him in front of the school.

I shook my head furiously. No, he deserved that. He needed some kind of humiliation – he passed it around easily enough! It wasn't as if I had wanted him to want me or anything… I lied pathetically to myself.

Oh god, oh god, oh god. I never wanted to leave this cubicle again. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to talk to Jasper.

As this clicked in my mind I was momentarily distracted by the issue at hand. Why was he the one that I wanted to run to right now? It was probably because he was the only one that knew the reality of the situation and could also give me some insight into how Edward was dealing with this.

I sat down heavily on the toilet, letting my head drop back and stared blankly at the ceiling. What was I going to do now? How were things going to be between Edward and I now?

I took a deep breath and tried to imagine the worst case scenario. He could bitterly spread the rumor that I had pounced on him in the woods and I was sour because he didn't see me as more than a friend. And then he would go back to ignoring me. Or maybe he would do something even worse.

My intimidation of him from before swam back into my body – I had no idea what a pissed off Edward could be capable of. He was like nobody I had ever met before. Damien had been right I was sure, he was dangerous. Everything about him screamed it.

My heart pelted triple speed in my chest and I felt slightly nauseous. What had I gone and done?

Finally when my thoughts had gone round in circles three times and it was nearing the end of lunch I emerged from the bathroom. My stomach was rumbling and I wasn't one that could ignore hunger pangs.

I kept my burning face down as I bee-lined for the cafeteria, heading straight for the food counter.

"Hey Eliza!" My stomach dropped like a stone as Damien's voice rang through the buzzing cafeteria. Was it just me or did everyone go quiet?

I turned slowly and Damien must have seen something in my expression because he was suddenly right beside me, his hand brushing my back. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged. "Not really."

"Is it Edward?"

I cringed, so the gossip was already spreading. "News travels fast." I murmured, gritting my teeth.

Damien chuckled at my reaction and I glared at him. "Sorry, that's just Forks for you though. People don't have much to talk about. So what were you yelling at him for? I heard it was pretty rough." I noted how happy he sounded about the whole thing.

"You really have no tact do you?" I rolled my eyes at him, resisting the urge to snap. It wasn't Damien's fault – he was just being his normal happy go lucky self.

He laughed again and followed me back to the table where the guys were sat eyeing us.

"Yo Eliza." Nick nodded at me and Liam raised his hand in greeting. I just sat down in silence.

"Whew, so I'm guessing it's true then." Liam whistled through his teeth and I pictured myself wringing his neck. These boys were doing nothing to help me feel better. I could not see the funny side to this.

Damien flung his arm around my shoulders and gave me a teasing shake. "Cheer up Eliza – it'll be old news by tomorrow."

I sighed pointedly and started devouring the sandwich I had purchased.

"It's the first time anyone's ever confronted a Cullen though." Nick carried on.

"Yeah and it's about time!" Damien defended me – I could hear the smile in his voice still.

"So what was it about?" Nick asked me and I struggled to swallow my mouthful that had turned to cardboard.

"He was just being a dick."

"Yeah we gathered. But he hasn't been sitting with us recently and I haven't seen you guys together once. Did something happen?" Nick sure was persistent and I could feel rather than see Damien giving him a look over my head.

"Yeah something happened but I don't want to talk about it." I mumbled, feeling Damien tense beside me. I knew he was dying to know what it was that had happened but I couldn't face the embarrassment. So far it seemed Edward hadn't spilled the beans and I was going to try and keep it that way.

The day dragged sluggishly but finally it was time to go home. Damien had been watching me even closer than normal, trying to pick up any signs of what had gone on between me and Edward probably. The boys didn't hesitate to continue to pester me even though I gave them barely any details and everyone was pretty wound up by the end of the day. It was a huge relief to get in the car with my mother and go home. Of course, she didn't notice anything amiss with me and filled the journey with mindless chatter about things that had happened at work. I was good at murmuring in the right places and she assumed I was listening like always.

(Jasper)

Of course she hadn't been there. I had easily found her scent, followed the same track that Edward had obviously been sent on, his scent was mixed in with hers. My nerves were on breaking point as her trail looped back on itself and took pointless twists and turns repeatedly before climbing the highest mountain surrounding Port Angeles. This must have been where her and Edward had met as their scents went in opposite directions after that.

I wondered vaguely why she had gone through such trouble of creating the maze of her scent but I didn't spare the energy to consider it. I didn't have long left if she was planning on staying away from me, she wouldn't have stayed much longer in Port Angeles after meeting Edward.

I raced after her smell that made its way down the other side of the mountain and began its straight route towards the ocean. My heart began to sink as I realized the destination of her running – if she did make it to the sea there was no way I could follow her; her scent would disappear into the waters. Sure enough, it lead straight to a small private dock and disappeared.

It was the middle of the night by the time I had got this far but I wasn't ready to give up. It was slight but there was a chance someone had sold her a boat and she had told them where she planned to go.

I sat cross legged on the dock, waiting for the sun to rise, watching the water lap against the rocks beside me. My head was spinning. Why had she called on Edward, what had she wanted to tell him? I remembered his animosity when he had entered the house, aimed directly at me and I cringed uncomfortably. He had insisted so vehemently that I stay away from Eliza surely that meant the vision that had been so important to reveal to Edward had been about her again. And his certainty that I was going to hurt her…

It was like a flash of lightening, all the pieces came together. Alice's baffling roaming around the countryside of Port Angeles, calling upon Edward of all the people, Edward's rage and accusation of me being a "Murdering cheat". She had seen the consequences of my decision to put an end to Eliza's life and she had been my accomplice in the crime – doing everything in her power to make the vision a reality. She had removed the one person that stood in the way of my plan, even though she must have been well aware of how much it would hurt Edward. No wonder Edward had felt so bitter and betrayed when he had come home.

I didn't know how to feel. Once again I had disappointed Alice, I couldn't even begin to imagine her devastation when, despite all her efforts, the future changed back once again. When I had decided not to follow through on my plans.

Why hadn't I followed through? Alice knew as well as I did that once I started something I finished it with no exceptions. Except for now. Something as pathetic as curiosity would have never stood in the way of my plans before, something a weak as a human. It was laughable. It was like the future was writing me rather than the other way round – like I was helpless to its plans.

And yet… I was glad I hadn't killed Eliza. She dragged me out of the depths of despair I had been lost in, distracting me enough to help me function. There was no way I could go back on my decision now – not after spending some time with her, now I had seen the full extent of her innocence and felt the pureness of her emotions. It really would be a crime to kill her, it would be like going back on everything I had tried so hard to overcome in the past century with Alice. And surely Alice knew the psychological effect it would have on me killing something good for my own selfish reasons, no longer was I the kind of person that could just shrug that kind of thing off. And she had still tried to make it happen.

Eventually it was morning and I was a wreck of conflicting emotions, but I knew I still had to find Alice. That she would be able to make everything right again. And so I spent the day circulating Port Angeles, asking anyone that could have possibly come into contact with her if they had seen her. Finally I gathered that she had purchased a boat from a local fisherman, paying him handsomely for his cooperation and silence. Not enough apparently. But that was the most I could gather – I had reached a dead end.

I had no choice but to return home empty handed and miserable.


End file.
